Concentric gate nanotube transistor devices

ABSTRACT

Single-walled carbon nanotube transistor devices, and associated methods of making such devices include a porous structure for the single-walled carbon nanotubes. The porous structure may be anodized aluminum oxide or another material. Electrodes for source and drain of a transistor are provided at opposite ends of the single-walled carbon nanotube devices. A concentric gate surrounds at least a portion of a nanotube in a pore. A transistor of the invention may be especially suited for power transistor or power amplifier applications.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/162,548, filed Sep. 14, 2005, which claims the benefit ofU.S. provisional patent applications 60/611,055, filed Sep. 16, 2004;60/610,669, filed Sep. 17, 2004; and 60/617,628, filed Oct. 9, 2004.These applications are incorporated by reference along with all otherreferences cited in this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and theirmanufacture, and more specifically to carbon nanotube transistortechnology.

The age of information and electronic commerce has been made possible bythe development of transistors and electronic circuits, and theirminiaturization through integrated circuit technology. Integratedcircuits are sometimes referred to as “chips.” Many numbers oftransistors are used to build electronic circuits and integratedcircuits. Modern microprocessor integrated circuits have over 50 milliontransistors and will have over 1 billion transistors in the future.

Some type of circuits include digital signal processors (DSPs),amplifiers, dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), static random accessmemories (SRAMs), erasable programmable read only memories (EPROMs),electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), Flashmemories, microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), and programmable logic. Other circuits include amplifiers,operational amplifiers, transceivers, power amplifiers, analog switchesand multiplexers, oscillators, clocks, filters, power supply and batterymanagement, thermal management, voltage references, comparators, andsensors.

Electronic circuits have been widely adopted and are used in manyproducts in the areas of computers and other programmed machines,consumer electronics, telecommunications and networking equipment,wireless networking and communications, industrial automation, andmedical instruments, just to name a few. Electronic circuits andintegrated circuits are the foundation of computers, the Internet, voiceover IP (VoIP), and on-line technologies including the World Wide Web(WWW).

There is a continuing demand for electronic products that are easier touse, more accessible to greater numbers of users, provide more features,and generally address the needs of consumers and customers. Integratedcircuit technology continues to advance rapidly. With new advances intechnology, more of these needs are addressed. Furthermore, new advancesmay also bring about fundamental changes in technology that profoundlyimpact and greatly enhance the products of the future.

The building blocks in electronics are electrical and electronicelements. These elements include transistors, diodes, resistors, andcapacitors. There are many numbers of these elements on a singleintegrated circuit. Improvements in these elements and the developmentof new and improved elements will enhance the performance,functionality, and size of the integrated circuit.

An important building block in electronics is the transistor. In fact,the operation of almost every integrated circuit depends on transistors.Transistors are used in the implementation of many circuits. Improvingthe characteristics and techniques of making transistors will lead tomajor improvements in electronic and integrated circuit.

Presently silicon-based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effecttransistors (MOSFETs) are the workhorses of electronic systems and powerelectronics systems. However, demand for increasing performancerequirements is pushing the boundaries of silicon material. It isdesirable to have transistors with improved characteristics, especiallytransistors having higher current density, higher thermal conductivity,and higher switching frequency.

Therefore, there is a need to provide improved transistor technology.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to transistor and rectifying devices andassociated methods making such devices using carbon nanotube technology.Some embodiments of the present invention are particularly applicable totransistors. In an embodiment, the transistors include carbon nanotubesand more specifically, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). In oneimplementation, the transistors include single-walled carbon nanotubeswithin the pores of structures. A concentric gate surrounds at least aportion of a nanotube in a pore. These structures may use templates thatinclude anodized aluminum oxide or the like. Some embodiments of thepresent invention are especially suited for power transistor or poweramplifier applications, or both. Transistors of the invention may beespecially suited for a wide range of frequencies, switches, powersupplies, and driving motors.

Other embodiments of the invention are particularly applicable todiodes, rectifiers, silicon controlled rectifiers, varistors,thyristors, and related devices. In an embodiment, the inventioncombines carbon nanotubes and nanowire elements. The devices will allowfor high currents, high current densities, and high powers, which areparticularly suited for power diodes, power rectifiers, and relatedapplications.

In an embodiment, the invention is a field-effect transistor device forpower applications including a number of single-walled carbon nanotubeswithin a porous alumina template or other porous structure. Thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes are either directly synthesized withinthe pores or are transferred to the pores after synthesis. Source,drain, and gate electrodes are placed so that multiple single-walledcarbon nanotubes are connected in a vertical fashion. The device iscapable of high current densities, high power, and efficient powerdelivery.

In an embodiment, the invention includes a device such as transistordevice or a power transistor device, based on a number of single-walledcarbon nanotubes that are gated and act together. This device acts as ahigh current, high power field-effect transistor. In a specificembodiment, the device is configured to obtain significantly highercurrent densities and power capabilities than is currentlyconventionally available with semiconductor technology to obtainincreased performance, suitable for a variety of power applications.

In further embodiments, the invention includes: The use of verticalsingle-walled carbon nanotubes to form parallel redundant transistors.The use of parallel single-walled carbon nanotube transistors to supplypower to an electronic circuit of a notebook computer. The use ofparallel single-walled carbon nanotube transistors to supply power to anelectronic circuit of a mobile telecommunications device. The use ofparallel single-walled carbon nanotube transistors to supply power to arecharging circuit of an automobile. The use of a gate region extendingvertically into a structure to influence operation of verticalsingle-walled carbon nanotubes of the structure. The use ofsingle-walled carbon nanotube transistors of the invention to form anintegrated circuit.

In an embodiment, the invention includes a method of making a deviceincluding anodizing an aluminum substrate to produce an alumina templatewith a plurality of pores, each having a pore diameter; forming aconductive layer in the pores; forming on the conductive layer in thepores an insulating layer; and exposing the alumina template havingpores to a hydrocarbon gas at a temperature to grow carbon nanotubes inthe pores, each carbon nanotube having an outer diameter less than thepore diameter of the pore in which the carbon nanotube is produced.

In an embodiment, the invention includes a method of making a deviceincluding providing a porous layer including a plurality of pores havinga pore diameter; forming a conductive layer in the pores; forming on theconductive layer in the pores a first insulating layer; and exposing theporous layer to a hydrocarbon gas at a temperature to grow carbonnanotubes in the pores, each carbon nanotube having an outer diameterless than the pore diameter of a pore in which the carbon nanotube isproduced.

In an embodiment, the invention includes a structure including a porousstructure including a plurality of pores, where each pore includes asingle-walled carbon nanotube, an insulating material, and a conductivematerial, the single-walled carbon nanotube being surrounded by theinsulating material, which is surrounded by the conductive material; afirst electrode connected to a first end of at least one of thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes; and a second electrode connected to asecond end of the at least one of the single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent upon consideration of the following detailed descriptionand the accompanying drawings, in which like reference designationsrepresent like features throughout the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a computing system incorporating the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a motor vehicle system incorporating the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a telecommunications system incorporating the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a system incorporating the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a circuit symbol for a carbon nanotube transistor.

FIG. 6 shows a DC-to-AC inverter circuit using carbon nanotubetransistors.

FIG. 7 shows a DC-DC converter circuit using carbon nanotubetransistors.

FIG. 8 shows a top view of a porous structure used in a technique offabricating carbon nanotube transistors of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of a porous structure used in atechnique of fabricating carbon nanotube transistors of the invention.

FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of a substrate or structure withpores having single-walled carbon nanotubes.

FIG. 11A shows a perspective view of a single-walled carbon nanotubetransistor device of the invention.

FIG. 11B shows a perspective view of a single-walled carbon nanotubetransistor device of the invention, where a gate electrode extends intothe structure.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a technique for fabricating asingle-walled carbon nanotube transistor device using chemical vapordeposition (CVD) synthesis.

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of a technique for fabricating asingle-walled carbon nanotube transistor device using a liquiddeposition.

FIG. 14 shows a cross-sectional view a porous structure supported astructure or substrate without pores.

FIG. 15 shows a cross-sectional view of a device with carbon nanotubesin the pores of a porous structure and nanowires covering a portion ofthe carbon nanotubes.

FIG. 16 shows a device where a substrate is used and connected to abottom electrode.

FIG. 17 shows carbon nanotubes deposited in a structure with pores,where an optional conducting layer is between the structure with poresand a support substrate.

FIG. 18 shows nanowires deposited in pores and covering a portion of thecarbon nanotubes.

FIG. 19 shows a first electrode connecting to multiple ones of thecarbon nanotubes, and a second electrode connected to multiple ones ofthe nanowires.

FIG. 20 shows an optional filler material may be used to fill-in aportion of the pores.

FIG. 21 shows a perspective view of a diode device of the invention.

FIG. 22 shows a flow diagram of a technique for fabricating asingle-walled carbon nanotube diode device using chemical vapordeposition (CVD) synthesis.

FIG. 23 shows a flow diagram of a technique for fabricating asingle-walled carbon nanotube diode device using chemical vapordeposition (CVD) synthesis, where a substrate is added to the porousstructure.

FIG. 24 shows a flow diagram of a technique for fabricating asingle-walled carbon nanotube diode device using a liquid deposition.

FIG. 25 shows a top view of a concentric gate implementation of ananotube transistor.

FIG. 26 shows a perspective view of a cross section of the concentricgate implementation of a nanotube transistor.

FIG. 27 shows a perspective view of a cross section of the concentricgate implementation of a nanotube transistor with leads connecting tothe gate, source, and drain nodes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a carbon nanotube device and techniques formanufacturing such a device. In a specific embodiment, the carbonnanotube device is a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) device, wherethe single-walled carbon nanotube is an element of the device. Aspecific application of a SWNT device of the invention is as a powertransistor, a type of transistor capable of passing relatively highcurrents compared to standard transistors. The invention also providesdiodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers, and other related devices havingcarbon nanotubes, and methods for making such devices. These may bemanufactured independently or in combination with nanotube transistorsdevices of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic system incorporating one ormore carbon nanotube transistors or rectifying devices of the invention,or combinations of these. Electronic systems come in many differentconfigurations and sizes. Some electronic systems are portable orhandheld. Such portable systems typically may be battery operated.

The battery is typically a rechargeable type, such as having nickelcadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-Ion),lithium polymer, lead acid, or another rechargeable battery chemistry.The system can operate for a certain amount of time on a single batterycharge. After the battery is drained, it may be recharged and then usedagain.

In a specific embodiment, the electronic system is a portable computingsystem or computer, such as a laptop or notebook computer. A typicalcomputing system includes a screen, enclosure, and keyboard. There maybe a pointing device, touchpad, or mouse equivalent device having one ormore buttons. The enclosure houses familiar computer components, some ofwhich are not shown, such as a processor, memory, mass storage devices,battery, wireless transceiver, and the like. Mass storage devices mayinclude mass disk drives, floppy disks, magnetic disks, fixed disks,hard disks, CD-ROM and CD-RW drives, DVD-ROM and DVD-RW drive, Flash andother nonvolatile solid-state storage drives, tape storage, reader, andother similar devices, and combinations of these.

Other examples of portable electronics and battery-operated systemsinclude electronic game machines (e.g., Sony PlayStation Portable), DVDplayers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), remote controls, mobilephones, remote controlled robots and toys, power tools, still and moviecameras, medical devices, radios and wireless transceivers, and manyothers. The transistor of the invention may be used in any of these andother electronic and battery-operated systems to provide similarbenefits.

Transistors or rectifying devices of the invention, or combinations ofthese, may be used in various circuits of electronic systems includingcircuitry for the rapid recharging of the battery cells and voltageconversion, including DC-DC conversion. For example, each laptop powersupply typically has eight power transistors. Transistors of theinvention may be used in circuitry for driving the screen of the system.The screen may be a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display(LCD), plasma display, or organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.Transistors of the invention may be used in circuitry for the wirelessoperation of the system such as circuitry for wireless networking (e.g.,Wi-Fi, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n) or other wirelessconnectivity (e.g., Bluetooth).

FIG. 2 shows an example of a vehicle incorporating one or more carbonnanotube transistors or rectifying devices of the invention, orcombinations of these. Although the figure shows a car example, thevehicle may be a car, automobile, truck, bus, motorized bicycle,scooter, golf cart, train, plane, boat, ship, submarine, wheelchairs,personal transportations devices (e.g., Segway Human Transporter (HT)),or other. In a specific embodiment, the vehicle is an electric vehicleor hybrid-electric vehicle, whose motion or operation is provided, atleast in part, by electric motors.

In an electric vehicle, rechargeable batteries, typically lead acid,drive the electric motors. These electric or hybrid-electric vehiclesinclude transistors or devices of the invention in, among other places,the recharging circuitry used to recharge the batteries. For ahybrid-electric vehicle, the battery is recharged by the motion of thevehicle. For a fully electric vehicle, the battery is charged via anexternal source, such as an AC line or another connection to a powergrid or electrical power generator source. The vehicular systems mayalso include circuitry with transistors of the invention to operatetheir on-board electronics and electrical systems.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a telecommunications system incorporating oneor more carbon nanotube transistors or rectifying devices of theinvention, or combinations of these. The telecommunications system hasone or more mobile phones and one or more mobile phone network basestations. As described above for portable electronic devices, eachmobile phone typically has a rechargeable battery that may be chargedusing circuitry with transistors or devices of the invention.Furthermore, for the mobile phone or other wireless device, there may betransceiver or wireless broadcasting circuitry implemented usingtransistors of the invention. And a mobile phone network base stationmay have transceiver or broadcasting circuitry with transistors ordevices of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a more detailed block diagram of a representative systemincorporating the invention. This is an exemplary system representativeof an electronic device, notebook computer, vehicle, telecommunicationsnetwork, or other system incorporating the invention as discussed above.The system has a central block 401, a component of the system receivingpower. The central block may be a central processing unit,microprocessor, memory, amplifier, electric motor, display, or other.

DC power is supplied to the central block from a rechargeable battery411. This battery is charged from an AC power source 403 using a circuitblock A including carbon nanotube transistors or devices of theinvention. Circuit block A may include circuitry to convert AC power toDC power, and this circuitry may also include carbon nanotubetransistors or rectifying devices. Although a single circuit block A isshown to simplify the diagram, the circuitry may be divided into twocircuit blocks, one block for AC-to-DC conversion and another block forthe recharging circuitry.

Central block may be a device that can be powered either by the AC lineor from the battery. In such an embodiment, there would be a path fromAC power, connection 405, circuit block B, and connection 408 to aswitch 415. The battery is also connected to switch 415. The switchselects whether power is supplied to the central block from the batteryor from the AC power line (via circuit block B). Circuit block B mayinclude AC-to-DC conversion circuitry implemented using carbon nanotubetransistors or devices of the invention. Furthermore, in animplementation of the invention, switch 415 includes carbon nanotubetransistors or devices of the invention.

Circuit block B may be incorporated into a power supply for centralblock. This power supply may be switching or linear power supply. Withcarbon nanotube transistors of the invention, the power supply will beable to provide more power in a more compact form factor than usingtypical transistors. The power supply of the invention would alsogenerate less heat, so there is less likelihood of overheating or fire.Also, a fan for the power supply may not be necessary, so a systemincorporating a power supply having nanotube transistors of theinvention may be quieter.

The path from AC power through circuit block B is optional. This path isnot needed in the case there is not an option to supply power from an ACline to the central block. In such a case, switch 415 would also not beused, and battery 411 would directly connect to circuit block C. As canbe appreciated, there are many variations to how the circuitry of thesystem in the figure may be interconnected, and these variations wouldnot depart from the scope of the invention.

Circuit block C is circuitry such as a DC-to-DC power converter orvoltage regulator including carbon nanotube transistors or devices ofthe invention. This circuitry takes DC power of a certain voltage andconverts it to DC voltage at a different voltage level. For example, thebattery or output of circuit block B may have an output voltage of about7.2 volts, but the central block uses 3 volts. Circuit block C convertsthe 7.2 volts to 3 volts. This would be a step-down converter sincevoltage of a higher level is being converted to a lower level.

In the case central block 401 has a wireless component, a path includingcircuit block D and antenna 426 will be used to transmit and receivewireless signals. Circuit block includes carbon nanotube transistors ofthe invention to perform the signal transmission or reception. Forexample, the carbon nanotube transistors may be used as output devicesin an amplifier generating the wireless signal. In an implementation ofthe invention without a wireless component, then circuit block D and theantenna would not be present.

FIG. 5 shows a symbol of a carbon nanotube transistor of the invention.According to the invention, transistors are manufactured using carbonnanotubes (CNTs). And more specifically, field-effect transistors (FETs)are manufactured using single-walled carbon nanotubes. The transistorhas a gate node G, drain node D, and source node S. This carbon nanotubetransistor of the invention does not have a bulk, substrate, or wellnode as would a typical MOS transistor of an integrated circuit. Inother embodiments of the invention, the carbon nanotube transistor mayhave a bulk node.

When an appropriate voltage is applied to the gate node, a channel canform in a carbon nanotube, denoted by NT. Current can flow from drain tosource. Operation of the single-walled carbon nanotube transistor of theinvention is analogous to a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor.

The single-walled carbon nanotube is a relatively recently discoveredmaterial. A single-walled carbon nanotube can be conceptually describedas a single sheet of graphite (also called graphene) that is configuredinto a seamless cylindrical roll with diameters typically about 1nanometer, but can range from about 0.4 to about 5 nanometers. Thecylinder may be a one-layer thick layer. For example, a nanotube may be0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 2.7, 3, 3.2, 3.6,3.8, 4.0, 4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, or 4.9 nanometers. Depending on theprocess technology, single-walled carbon nanotubes may have diametersless than 0.7 nanometers or greater than 5 nanometers.

In addition to single-walled carbon nanotubes, another type of carbonnanotube is a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT). A multiwalled carbonnanotube is different from single-walled carbon nanotube. Instead of asingle carbon nanotube cylinder, multiwalled carbon nanotubes haveconcentric cylinders of carbon nanotubes. Consequently, multiwalledcarbon nanotubes are thicker, typically having diameters of about 5nanometers and greater. For example, multiwalled carbon nanotubes mayhave diameters of 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 20, 30, 32, 36, 50, 56, 62, 74,78, 86, 90, 96, or 100 nanometers, or even larger diameters.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes have unique electrical, thermal, andmechanical properties. Electronically they can be metallic orsemiconducting based on their chirality or helicity, which is determinedby their (n, m) designation, which can be thought of as how the graphitesheet is rolled into a cylinder. Typically, individual single-walledcarbon nanotubes can handle currents of 20 microamps and greater withoutdamage. Compared to multiwalled carbon nanotubes, single-walled carbonnanotubes generally do not have structural defects, which is significantfor electronics applications.

Single-walled carbon nanotube material has proven to have incrediblematerials properties. It is the strongest known material—about 150 timesstronger than steel. It has the highest known thermal conductivity(about 6000 watts per meter per degree Kelvin). The properties ofsemiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes are indeed promising. Theymay be used in field-effect transistors (FETs), nonvolatile memory,logic circuits, and other applications.

With regard to transistor applications, single-walled nanotube deviceshave “on” resistances and switching resistances that are significantlylower than those of silicon. Transistors based on single-walled carbonnanotube technology can handle considerably higher current loads withoutgetting as hot as conventional silicon devices. This key advantage isbased on two factors. First, the lower “on” resistance and moreefficient switching results in much lower heat generation. Second,single-walled carbon nanotubes have high thermal conductivity ensuresthat the heat does not build up.

Important considerations in carbon nanotube field effect transistor(CNTFET) design and fabrication are threefold. A first consideration isthe controlled and reproducible growth of high quality single-walledcarbon nanotubes with the desirable diameter, length, and chirality. Asecond consideration is the efficient integration of nanotubes intoelectronic structures. And a third consideration is current nanotubegrowth and device fabrication processes need to be improvedsignificantly so that they are amenable to scalable and economicalmanufacturing.

FIG. 6 shows an AC-to-DC converter circuit using two carbon nanotubetransistors, M601 and M603, of the invention. The circuitry takes an ACvoltage input, such as 120 volts provided at transformer T1 and providesa DC voltage output, such as the 12 volts indicated in the figure. Theconverter may be designed to take as input any AC voltage, but 120 voltswas selected since this is the standard AC line voltage in the U.S. Thecircuitry may be designed to output any desired DC voltage, less than ormore than 12 volts, such as 2 volts, 3, volts, 5 volts, 6 volts, 16volts, 18 volts, or 20 volts, by varying the circuit components. Forexample, the resistances R1, R2, R3, and R4 may be varied.

Single-walled carbon nanotube transistor M601 is connected between anode 604 and ground. A gate node of M601 is connected to node 608. Acapacitor C2 is connected between 604 and 614, which is connected to agate of single-walled carbon nanotube transistor M603. M603 is connectedbetween node 619 and ground. A capacitor C1 is connected between 608 and619. Resistor R3 is connected between DC output, VOUT, and 614. ResistorR4 is connected between VOUT and 608. Between VOUT and 604 are a diodeD1 and resistor R2. Between VOUT and 619 are a diode D2 and resistor R1.Nodes 604 and 619 are connected to windings of transformer T1.

The AC-to-DC converter may output significant currents because theconverter provides power for circuits having relatively large powerneeds. Therefore, in such cases, carbon nanotube transistors M601 andM603 will pass relatively large currents. In addition, in a batteryrecharging battery application, by increasing the current M601 and M603can pass without overheating or damaging the devices, this will speed-upthe rate at which batteries may be recharged.

FIG. 7 shows a DC-to-DC converter circuit using two carbon nanotubetransistors, M701 and M705, of the invention. The circuit takes a DCinput voltage, VIN, and outputs a different DC voltage, VO. For example,VIN may be 7.2 volts or 12 volts, and VO may be 5 volts or 3 volts.Voltage conversion is used in many applications such as portableelectronics because batteries may not provide output at a desiredvoltage level or at a voltage compatible with electronics.

This circuit may also be part of a DC inverter circuit, in which case avoltage output of opposite polarity to the input voltage is provided.For example, if the input voltage is positive, the output voltage of theinverter would be negative. Or if the input voltage is negative, theoutput voltage of the inverter would be positive.

Single-walled carbon nanotube transistor M701 is connected between VIN+and node 712. Single-walled carbon nanotube transistor M705 is connectedbetween node 712 and VIN− (or ground). An inductor L is connectedbetween 712 and 716. A capacitor and resistor are connected between 716and VIN−. An output VO is taken between node 716 and ground.

In a further embodiment of the invention, there may be a first diodeconnected between a drain and source of transistor M701, and a seconddiode connected between a drain and source of transistor M705. The firstdiode may be connected so that current will be allowed to flow in adirection from node 712 to VIN+. The second diode may be connected sothat current will be allowed to flow in a direction from ground to node712.

These diodes may be designed or fabricated using any technique used toobtain devices with diode characteristics including using adiode-connected transistor, where a gate and drain of the transistor areconnected together, or other transistor techniques. In anotherembodiment, a diode may be integrated with a nanotube transistor using asingle-walled carbon nanotube and nanowire junction or other junction aswill be discussed in more below.

In operation, the converter circuit converts the VIN voltage to a VO orVOUT voltage. A first signal is connected to a gate of transistor M701,and a second signal is connected to a gate of transistor M705. The firstand second signals may clock signals or oscillator signals includingsquare waves, pulse trains, sawtooth signals, and the like. The firstand second signals and may be generated by a controller for theconverter circuit.

Power transistors are high power output stages in electronics thattypically carry high currents and power. They are elements in poweramplifiers and are used to deliver required amounts of current and powerefficiently to a load. Applications include power delivery to deviceswithin integrated circuits, personal computers, cellular phones,wireless base stations, and a variety of electrical devices. Powertransistors are also used for high current switches and supplying powerto motors.

At the present time, power transistors are bipolar junction transistors(BJT) or metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET)based on silicon technology. In addition to these silicon-based devices,other materials are used such as gallium arsenide and gallium nitride.However, silicon bipolar junction transistors and silicon metal oxidesemiconductor field-effect transistors, specifically laterally diffusedmetal oxide semiconductor, dominate the field. The entire powertransistor device contains a multitude of linked individual transistorsin order to distribute the total current and power. Relevant parametersin power transistors include current carrying and power capability,current gain, efficiency, and thermal resistance.

There are a number of challenges to commercialization of carbon nanotubetransistors and replacing current semiconductor technologies, includingchirality control, location and orientation control, size and lengthcontrol, and overall quality control of the properties of single-walledcarbon nanotubes on a large scale. These are addressed by the presentinvention.

An embodiment of the invention is a single-walled carbon nanotube basedpower transistor device, including a number of single-walled carbonnanotubes. This structure may include aluminum oxide or other material.An electrically conductive source and drain connect each side ofvertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes. The single-walledcarbon nanotubes are within the pores. The gate electrode is patternedto modulate the single-walled carbon nanotube electrical conductioneffectively and is electrically isolated from the source and drain. Thedevice of the invention obtains higher current densities and total powerdensities than can devices according to conventional technology, and thedevice enables higher current and power devices or equivalent currentand power in smaller sized devices.

In one embodiment of the invention, single-walled carbon nanotubes aresynthesized within pores of a porous structure. The porous structure isfabricated through any competent method using any competent material.For example, anodization techniques are used on aluminum to producealuminum oxide. Suitable and effective catalyst for single-walled carbonnanotube synthesis is deposited at the bottom of the pore.

To fabricate a transistor of the invention, a porous structure orsubstrate is used. FIG. 8 shows a top view of such a porous structure orsubstrate. FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the porous structure.The porous structure may be, for example, an aluminum oxide, Al₂O₃,structure in form of an aluminum oxide membrane that achieves a givenpore density and pore size. Each of the pores is an opening in thestructure. In an embodiment, this opening is generally circular in shapeand has a diameter. A pore has pore walls and generally a cylindricalopening. The pore opening may be other shapes and is not necessarilywhat would be considered a perfect cylindrical (or other shaped)opening. The porous structure may be made from other materials otherthan aluminum oxide including silicon, silicon germanium, galliumnitride, germanium, gallium arsenide, plastic, polymer, glass, orquartz, or the like, or a combination of these.

The pores will have a pore diameter, an interpore distance, and a porelength. Pore diameter will be about 10 nanometers to 200 nanometers.Pore density will typically be about 10⁸ per square centimeter to about10¹¹ per square centimeter. Below is a table A of density of the poresand corresponding interpore distance for various embodiments of theinvention for a hexagonal arrangement of pores.

TABLE A Density of Pores (per square centimeter) Interpore Distance(nanometers) 2 * 10¹¹ 24 1 * 10¹¹ 34 5 * 10¹⁰ 48 2 * 10¹⁰ 76 1 * 10¹⁰107  1 * 10⁹  340 

Pore length will typically be from about 500 nanometers to about 1.5microns. However, in other embodiments, the pore length may be less than500 nanometers such as short as 50 nanometers or less, or the porelength may be longer than 1.5 microns, such as up to 4 microns or more.

An important factor in determining the interpore distance will be theintegrity of the supporting structure. The thickness will likely bethinner (i.e., pore length will be shorter) when there is anothersupport structure which the porous structure is on. For example, theporous aluminum oxide structure may be on a sapphire, diamond, orsilicon sheet that provides structural integrity. For an aluminum oxidestructure only (i.e., no additional supporting structure), a thicknessfrom about 25 microns to about 100 microns should provide sufficientsupport.

When a support structure is used, a conductive material such as metalsuch as gold, titanium, palladium, platinum, or other metal may bedeposited at a junction of the support structure the pores. Thisconductive material will be helpful in attaching or contacting a carbonnanotube to the support structure, especially when the support structureis an insulator or semiconductor or if the electrical contact isinsufficient. Only a relatively small amount of conductive material maybe needed to aid in nanotube adhesion or electrical contact, or both.The conductive material will not necessarily form a rectifying junction(e.g., carbon nanotube-nanowire) as will be discussed later in thispatent.

FIG. 8 shows pores arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Each pore is at avertex of a hexagon, and there is also one pore in the center of thehexagon. This pattern is repeated throughout the porous structure. Anyother competent pattern may also or instead be used. For example, thepores may be arranged in a triangular, square, rectangular, pentagonal,octagonal, trapezoidal, or regular structure. In other embodiments ofthe invention, the pores may be distributed in a random arrangement.There may be two or more different arrangements of pores in the sameporous structure. For example, one portion of the structure has ahexagonal pattern and another portion has an octagonal structure. Thismay be useful in providing two or more carbon nanotube transistors onthe same structure with different characteristics.

Further, there may be different arrangements of the same pattern in thesame porous structure. For example, there may be two hexagonal patternson the same porous structure, but the hexagonal patterns may have someoffset from each other. One hexagonal pattern may be shifted some lineardistance from the other. Or one hexagonal pattern may be rotated at anangle compared to the other hexagonal pattern.

For a hexagonal pattern, a pitch is calculated by taking the square rootof (1/(sine 60*density of pores)). The pitch is the distance between twopores and is therefore a way to estimate the pore diameter, which shouldbe less than the pitch since the structure will have a certain wallthickness for sufficient structural integrity. In an embodiment, a porediameter will range from about 20 nanometers to about 35 nanometers. Inanother embodiment, the pore diameter will range from about 15nanometers to about 50 nanometers. In another embodiment, the porediameter will range from about 5 nanometers to about 250 nanometers.

The structure may be made by any competent method such aselectrochemical anodized etching of aluminum. The length and density ofthe pores is determined by anodization conditions including voltage andtime. Pores can be widened after fabrication by chemical techniques suchas phosphoric acid etching at a variety of temperatures such as, forexample, room temp, 60 degrees Celsius, and other temperatures. Otherchemical techniques include using chromic acid or a combination ofchromic and phosphoric acid.

The pattern of pores in the structure may be made by transfer from aporous structure that is primarily made of aluminum oxide and that hasbeen made porous as discussed elsewhere in this patent. The transfer ofpore patterns can be by any competent method such as by using the porousaluminum oxide structure as a mask and etching through the pores intothe other medium such as into the silicon, silicon germanium, and soforth. As will be discussed in more detail below, the single-walledcarbon nanotubes are then synthesized directly within or are transferredto the pores of the new medium. Source, drain, and gate electrodes aredefined to form a carbon nanotube transistor of the invention.

In an embodiment, aluminum is the starting substrate material. And thisaluminum precursor may be 99.99 percent pure or better. The more purethe aluminum precursor is the better the results generally will be interms of transistor yield and transistor characteristics.

Before pore fabrication, the precursor is cleaned and annealed.Typically the aluminum is electropolished for some time. Then thesubstrate is anodized or oxidized to form aluminum oxide where a firstlayer of pores is created. This first layer of pores does not have to betoo organized and consistent; this layer may be removed by chemicalmeans. Then the substrate may be anodized or oxidized again. This secondstage of pore fabrication is then used to make a regular arrangement ofquality pores. Even more anodization steps may be performed to furtherimprove ordering.

In an embodiment of the invention, when the aluminum is formed on asubstrate, electropolishing may not be needed and instead, cleaning willbe used, or cleaning and annealing will be used. Electropolishing mayremove too much aluminum, and so it may not work well with evaporated orsputtered films of aluminum. These techniques form a relatively thinfilm of aluminum. With such a thin film, typically there is notsufficient control during the electropolishing process to ensure not toomuch aluminum is removed. However in the case of bulk aluminum oraluminum foil, then the process may include annealing andelectropolishing during anodization. A second anodization, after thefirst, is optional. Decent pore formation may occur without the secondanodization. However, the second anodization is useful in order to avoidsteps such as electropolishing.

This process makes pores with one side exposed and a thin barrier layerof aluminum oxide film on the remaining aluminum bulk or substrate onthe other end of the pore. In some embodiments, some processes may haveno barrier layer when a substrate is used instead of bulk aluminum. Thealuminum bulk can be etched or removed by a chemical means to open theother side of the pores. This will leave the aluminum oxide film with athickness defined by the etching conditions (i.e., time). It is usuallyabout a micron to tens of microns in thickness.

FIG. 10 shows the porous structure with single-walled carbon nanotube inthe pores. Through processing as discussed in more detail below,single-walled carbon nanotubes are formed in the pores. Single-walledcarbon nanotube can be synthesized within the pores or transferred tothe pores. It is desirable to have a semiconducting single-walled carbonnanotube in each pore. It is also desirable to have a single-walledcarbon nanotube that has both ends exposed at or outside the pore inorder to make metal connections. Therefore, the single-walled carbonnanotube length should be at least about equal to the pore length. As istypical for any manufacturing process, however, the yield ofsemiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes meeting the desiredcharacteristics will vary. A single-walled carbon nanotube will form inmost of the pores, but not necessarily every pore. Each pore may notcontain a nanotube due to yield per pore issues. Most likely, the porewill have an average of one tube, but it will be spread out with somewith zero tubes, some with one, some with multiple tubes, such as two tofour tubes. And for the single-walled carbon nanotubes that are formed,some will have the desired characteristics and others will not.

The single-walled carbon nanotube can be p-type such as when subject toambient and oxygen adsorption occurs. The single-walled carbon nanotubecan be n-type such as when the single-walled carbon nanotube is coatedwith electron-donating species such as metal particles, select polymercoatings, or select gas species.

Some amounts of missing or defective pores and missing or noneffectivesingle-walled carbon nanotubes are expected. Additionally, some poresand carbon nanotubes may be removed when forming a gate of thetransistor. However, due to redundancy and a large number of pores withnanotubes per unit area, an operative transistor will be formed even ifnot every pore has an effective single-walled carbon nanotube device.

Some nanotubes may have undesirable characteristics. For example, somenanotubes may be metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes orsemiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes that do not depleteeffectively with the electric gating. These undesirable carbon nanotubedevices can be removed by any competent technique such as chemical,mechanical, or electrical techniques, and the like, or combinations ofthese techniques. One specific technique is to use acids such as nitricacid to etch metallic tubes at a faster rate than semiconductors.Another technique is electrical burn-off with protection where the gateis used to turn off the “wanted” semiconducting tubes and then flow asufficient current through the metallic tubes until they fail. Thecurrent to cause failure or electrical breakdown of the undesirablecarbon nanotubes may be over above about 15 microamps to about 25microamps per tube, or even higher currents may be used. Due to theredundancy and device density, even in the case when not all pores yieldan effective single-walled carbon nanotube device, this will not renderthe transistor device defective or inoperative.

In some embodiments of the invention, high current densities areobtained. For example, some embodiments of the present invention can beconfigured by including sufficient density of functional single-walledcarbon nanotubes to obtain current density of greater than about 1000amperes per square centimeter. Depending on the density and currentcontribution of each carbon nanotube, the current density may be greaterthan 1000 amperes per square centimeter, such as 2000 amperes per squarecentimeter, 3000 amperes per square centimeter, 4000 amperes per squarecentimeter, or 5000 or more amperes per square centimeter. The currentdensity may be less than 1000 amperes per square centimeter. The currentdensity may be much higher than 5000 amperes per square centimeter, suchas 10¹¹ amperes per square centimeter.

Direct synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes within the pores canuse any competent method. In an embodiment of the invention, a techniqueincludes performing chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at 400 degrees to1200 degrees Celsius to synthesize single-walled carbon nanotube deviceswithin the pores. The results may be that about 95 percent or higher ofthe single-walled carbon nanotubes are semiconducting. In anotherembodiment, 70 percent or higher of the single-walled carbon nanotubesare semiconducting. However, lower percentages such as at least 60percent or lower can also be tolerated to obtain a working device.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method is as follows.Fabricate pores in the in the form of aluminum oxide film on thealuminum bulk. In an embodiment, the pores and aluminum oxide are formedat the same time as the aluminum is being oxidized. Place an appropriatecatalyst at the bottom of the pores to form single-walled carbonnanotubes. The appropriate catalyst may be, for example, iron, nickel,or cobalt, or any combination of these metals, or any combination of oneor more of these with other metals. Typically the catalyst is in theform of nanoparticles that is the appropriate size, usually 1 nanometerto 4 nanometers in diameter. In other implementations, the catalyst maybe larger than 4 nanometers. These nanoparticles may be obtained throughmetal deposition such as by metal evaporators, electrochemicaldeposition of metals, or a wet deposition of catalyst where the metalcatalyst nanoparticle or particles is supported by a larger inorganicsupport or an organic shell, such as a ferritin protein.

The catalyst particle should stay the appropriate size for synthesis ofthe single-walled carbon nanotubes. Synthesis can occur with thealuminum bulk still on the bottom of the structure if temperatures areless than about 600 degrees Celsius to about 650 degrees Celsius. Thetemplate with aluminum oxide only can go to higher temperature, forexample, to about 900 degrees Celsius to about 1000 degrees Celsius.Above 650 degrees Celsius the aluminum will begin to melt, and below 600degrees Celsius, carbon nanotube production may be impaired compared toproduction at a higher temperature. The presence of remaining aluminumbulk limits the maximum temperature. Otherwise a full range of about 400degrees Celsius to about 1200 degrees Celsius may be used. As anexample, if a different material is used, such as tungsten, a highertemperature than 650 degrees Celsius may be used because the meltingpoint of the material is higher than aluminum.

In an embodiment, the aluminum bulk will be removed, which will leave athin aluminum oxide film on the bottom side, such that the catalystparticle is not exposed (or the single-walled carbon nanotubes will growfrom that side and not into the pore itself). After synthesis, the thinaluminum oxide film or bulk aluminum is removed and the aluminum oxidemembrane will have the ability to metal connect to each side of thesingle-walled carbon nanotube.

In another embodiment of the invention, single-walled carbon nanotubesare synthesized before incorporation into the transistor device. Thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes are synthesized beforehand in bulk by anycompetent method such as CVD, arc-discharge, laser ablation method, orthe like, or combinations of these, or any other method. Then the carbonnanotubes are transferred into the pores of the structure. The transfermethod of single-walled carbon nanotube placement can use any competentmethod.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is as follows.Fabricate pores and the aluminum oxide film, and then remove thealuminum bulk and expose each side of the pores. As discussed above, inan embodiment, the pores and aluminum oxide may be formed at the sametime as the aluminum is being oxidized. Synthesize the single-walledcarbon nanotubes. Then the single-walled carbon nanotubes are put insolution or suspension by any competent method. Flow a solution orsuspension containing single-walled carbon nanotube through the poressuch that it leaves single-walled carbon nanotubes in the pores with theability to contact each side with metal electrodes.

More specifically, single-walled carbon nanotubes in solutions orsuspensions are transferred to the pores as the liquid flows through thepores. Microfluidic methods may be used. Any unwanted or extraneoussingle-walled carbon nanotubes or portions of single-walled carbonnanotubes are removed by any competent method such as chemical,electrical, or mechanical methods, or the like.

While in solution, the single-walled carbon nanotubes can further beseparated to enrich the semiconducting content and optimize the lengthand diameter. For example, the single-walled carbon nanotubes may beseparated by size, length, or electrical characteristics. In oneimplementation, semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes areseparated from metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes. Therefore, usingthis approach, it is possible to get a higher concentration ofsemiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes than is possible bysynthesis alone. The solution or suspension can also be optimized forsingle-walled carbon nanotubes of a desired diameter and length. Thediameter of the single-walled carbon nanotube will determine thesemiconducting band gap size. The length of the single-walled carbonnanotubes should be at least as long as the pore length.

Source and drain electrodes may be formed on each side (e.g., top andbottom) of the single-walled carbon nanotubes and aluminum oxidestructure. To help open both sides of an aluminum oxide structure andthe single-walled carbon nanotube for electrode connection, any barrieraluminum or aluminum oxide is removed by any competent method. One ormore gate electrodes is fabricated to form the transistor.

FIG. 11A shows a perspective view of a transistor according to anembodiment of the invention. Although FIG. 11A shows one transistoraccording to the invention, using the technique of the invention, manytransistors may be formed at the same time. Only a single transistor isshown in order to simplify the diagram.

One side of the porous structure 1120 is connected with a conductiveelectrode 1140 and is a source electrode for the transistor. Theopposite side is connected with a conductive electrode 1150 and is adrain electrode for the transistor. A conductive gate region 1110 ispatterned such that it is isolated by an oxide or other isolatingmaterial 1130 from the source and drain and the carbon nanotubes. In anembodiment, oxide 1130 is aluminum oxide. This gate effectively gatesthe multiple single-walled carbon nanotube connections. This gate may beformed using metal, polysilicon, polysilicide, or another conductivematerial.

This patent describes top electrode 1140 as the source node of thetransistor while bottom electrode 1150 is the drain node of thetransistor. However, in other implementations of the invention, as thoseof skill in the art will recognize, these designations may be exchanged,so top electrode may be the drain and bottom electrode will be thesource. Therefore, although this patent primarily describes oneparticular arrangement of electrodes for consistency, other arrangementsmay be used instead without departing from the scope of the invention.

A layout of the top side of the porous structure has are stripes ofalternating types of conductors. In this specific case, the conductorsare source, gate, source, gate, and source. Alternatively, the stripesmay be drain, gate, drain, gate, and drain. In an implementation, theseconductors may be metal, polysilicon, metal, polysilicon, and metal.

In another embodiment, a layout of the bottom side of the structure maymirror the stripe arrangement of the top. For example, the top may besource, gate, source, gate, and source, and the bottom may be drain,gate, drain, gate, and drain, where gates on the top are above the gateson the bottom. Another arrangement on the bottom is gate, drain, gate,drain, and gate, where the sources on top are above the gates on thebottom.

In a further embodiment, source electrodes and drain electrodes may beintegrated on the same side of the structure. For example, the drainelectrodes on the top side of the structure may be connected to ends ofthe nanotubes on the bottom through an appropriate connection such as ajumper, via, carbon nanotube, or nanowire.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11A, the transistor has two gate electrodes ortwo gate electrode regions 1110, and between these regions are a numberof pores and single-walled carbon nanotubes. The figure shows five poresand four single-walled carbon nanotubes between the gate regions.However, in other embodiments of the invention, there may be evengreater numbers of pores and single-walled carbon nanotubes between thegate electrodes. There may be less than four single-walled carbonnanotubes between the two electrodes, such as two or three single-walledcarbon nanotubes.

Gate regions 1110 may be separate and independent of each other. Thismeans a different or the same voltage may be applied to each,independently of the other. Or the regions may be electrically connectedor otherwise strapped together elsewhere in the structure (not shown)and act together essentially as a single, but distributed gateelectrode. A gate electrode portion shown would be like one of the three“fingers” or extensions of a capital “E.” In a transistor of theinvention, there may be any numbers of such fingers of the gateelectrode, such as more than two, three, four, five, or even hundreds orthousands of such gate regions. Therefore, gate 1110 may be referred toas gate region, gate member, gate portion, gate segment, gate parcel, orgate piece, where each region may be separate and independent of otherregions, or one region may be electrically connected to one or moreother regions.

There are three source regions 1140. Similar to the case for gate 1110,the source and drain regions may be separate and independent of eachother. Or the source and drain regions may be electrically connected orotherwise strapped together elsewhere in the structure (not shown) andact together essentially as a single, but distributed source or drainelectrode. In a structure, there may be any number of source or drainregions.

More specifically, the source is on one side of the porous structuresuch as the aluminum oxide structure and connects with one end ofsingle-walled carbon nanotubes. The drain is on the other side of theporous structure and connects with the other end of the single-walledcarbon nanotubes. The single-walled carbon nanotubes are thenelectrically connected and can function as a current carrying device orchannel.

In an implementation of the invention, the gate regions of the structureare connected together, the source regions are connected together, andthe drain regions are connected together. This arrangement may bethought of as single-walled carbon nanotubes connected and operating inparallel. There may be hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands,millions, or more carbon nanotubes that are combined to form asingle-walled carbon nanotube transistor of the invention.

In an embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 11A, the gateelectrode is fabricated either on one side or both sides of the aluminumoxide structure. For example, a gate electrode layer may be formed onthe source layer or the drain layer, or on both sides. In thisimplementation, the nanotubes would be “sandwiched” between the sourceand drain electrodes, and some nanotubes would be below the gateelectrodes. Or the nanotubes may be sandwiched between two gateelectrodes on opposite ends. Alternatively, when gates are on both sidesof the structure, the gates may be patterned in an alternatingdrain-gate-source-type structure so carbon nanotubes are not sandwichedbetween the gate electrodes.

These nanotubes would not electrically contact the gate electrodebecause of the insulating layer. And the gate electrode or electrodesare electrically isolated from the source and drain electrodes, perhapsby use of an insulating layer between a gate electrode layer and asource (or drain) electrode layer.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 11B. Thisimplementation is similar to the one shown in FIG. 11A. However, gateregion 1110 is etched, deposited, or otherwise formed into the aluminumoxide structure so as to be more effective at gating the length of thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes. A depth of the gate region may be theentire length of the porous structure (e.g., through the sourceelectrode and up to or adjacent the drain electrode), or the depth maybe any portion of the length of the porous structure. For example, thedepth of the gate may be 5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent,40 percent, 50 percent, 55 percent, 60 percent, or a greater percentageof the length of the porous structure. The depth may be less than 20percent, less than 30 percent, less than 40 percent, less than 50percent, and other percentages.

When processing a device of the invention, a conductive layer if formedon a surface of the porous structure. This conductive layer may be forthe source or drain electrode region. The conductive layer may bepatterned to etch openings for the gate. To etch an aluminum oxidestructure with pores, a reactive ion etcher (RIE) may be used. Areactive ion etcher is a form of dry etching. One example for the gasesused for reactive ion etching is argon. Another example is argon andSF₆. The gases used may be argon, fluorides (like SF₆), or chlorides,oxygen, or combinations of these.

For the distances or depths etching into the porous structure, in oneembodiment, the trench depth is about 5 nanometers or 50 Angstroms. Ifthe total thickness is 1 micron or 10,000 Angstroms, 50 Angstroms wouldbe a depth of 0.5 percent. In such an embodiment, the trench depth wouldbe at least 0.5 percent. In another embodiment, the depth will be about10 nanometers, 100 Angstroms, or a one percent depth. In anotherembodiment, the depth will be about 50 nanometers, 500 Angstroms, or afive percent depth. In another embodiment, the depth will be about 100nanometers, 1000 Angstroms, or a ten percent depth. In a furtherembodiment, the depth will be about 500 nanometers, 5000 Angstroms, or afifty percent depth. In a further embodiment, the depth will be about1000 nanometers, 10,000 Angstroms, or a one-hundred percent depth.

The etch rates may be dependent on the trench size or more particularly,a width of a line. Smaller lines or openings may etch more slowly thanlarger ones, so this will affect the depths versus lithography linedimensions.

Also, the gate region is shown as a rectangular shape in FIGS. 11A and11B. However, in other implementations of the invention, the gate may bein any shape such as a polygon, triangle, trapezoid, circle, ellipse,oval, or some combination of shapes.

Furthermore, according to a technique of the invention, the trench isformed into the porous structure by etching by chemicals, plasma, laser,mechanical means, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMs), or othertechnique. An isolating material is deposited in the trench such asaluminum oxide, silicon oxide, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide, oranother insulating material. This insulating material will prevent thegate material from shorting out any carbon nanotubes. Then gate material1110 is deposited in the trench. The gate material may be depositedusing sputtering, evaporation, or other technique.

Another consideration for selecting a gate depth is the type oftransistor being fabricated. If the device is a depletion modetransistor, the depth of the gate may be less than if the device is anenhancement mode transistor. This is because a depletion mode transistoris normally on. Therefore, to turn the depletion mode transistor off,the gate has to turn off any relatively small portion of the channel orsingle-walled carbon nanotube. In contrast, for an enhancement modetransistor, the gate should turn on the entire channel for thetransistor to be fully on.

After device fabrication, the single-walled carbon nanotube transistordevice is mounted and packaged in order to achieve overall mechanical,electrical, and thermal quality and stability as a final product.

In operation, a voltage is applied to the gate electrode to modulate theelectrical properties of the semiconducting single-walled carbonnanotubes. The gate electrode is placed near enough in proximity to thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes in order to be an effective gate. In someembodiments of invention, an effective gate for the transistor will bejust a portion of the semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes—thatis, the portion nearest the gate electrode. In other words, when avoltage is applied to the gate, there will be an electric field in theporous structure. The field strength of this electric field willdecrease as a distance from the gate increases. Therefore, single-walledcarbon nanotubes that are closer to the gate will be more influenced bythe gate.

Depending on the characteristics of the semiconducting single-walledcarbon nanotubes, the transistor may be enhancement, depletion, native,or other type of transistor. This will adjust the characteristics of thetransistor. For example, a depletion mode single-walled carbon nanotubetransistor passes current until it is turned off, while an enhancementmode single-walled carbon nanotube transistor normally impedes currentuntil it is triggered to turn on. To obtain the desired transistorcharacteristics, the single-walled carbon nanotubes may be adjustedduring the processing. For example, the carbon nanotubes may be dopedwith certain ions or absorbed molecules to adjust their characteristics.

In an embodiment, the pores may be filled after tube growth. Forexample, in an embodiment where the single-walled carbon nanotubes donot fill the entire pore, the remaining area within the pores may bepartially or completely filled with a material. Examples of the materialmay be an insulator, metal, semiconductor, or polymer. This material maybe used to passivate, protect, stabilize, or modify, or combinations ofthese, the properties of the carbon nanotubes. For example, a polymermay be used to coat the nanotubes to give the nanotubes a particulartype of doping. Also, the polymer may be chemically modified duringprocessing.

In a further embodiment, a material may be added to fill in at leastsome portion of the open area within the pores. In particular, asdiscussed above, the single-walled carbon nanotube is smaller than adiameter than the pore. This “empty” space between the nanotube and porewalls may be filled or coated with a material such as an insulator,metal oxide, polymer, or other material.

The empty space may be filled with multiple materials or layers ofdifferent materials. One layer may be an insulator, metal oxide,polymer, or other nonconducting layer. Another layer may be a metal,semiconductor, polysilicon, polymer, or other conducting layer. Thenonconducting layer would be considered nonconducting relative to theconducting layer. The insulator would insulate the single-walled carbonnanotube from other materials, which may be conductive materials. Theremay be two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or more layers withineach pore. Some of the layers may be the same of different, in anycombination as desired. For example, the layers may alternate betweenconductive and nonconductive.

FIG. 25 shows a top view and FIG. 26 shows a perspective view of a crosssection of a concentric gate implementation of the invention. Usingmultiple concentric layers of different material, individual pores maybe used to form a transistor device. In a pore 2510 will be asingle-walled carbon nanotube 2610, which will serve as a channel regionof the transistor. Surrounding at least a portion of the single-walledcarbon nanotube will be a relatively thin insulating layer 2530 (and2630) such as an oxide. Further, surrounding this oxide will be aconductive layer 2520 (and 2620) such as metal, polysilicon, otherconductor. This layer will serve as a gate electrode of the transistor.In such an embodiment of the invention, the pore diameters are selectedto permit the multiple layers to be fabricated and connected to, and thepore density will be affected accordingly. As shown in the figures, theporous structure may have many numbers of these transistors, and eachmay be operated independently of another, or two or more of thetransistors may be connected together. Or a group or all the transistorsof the porous structure may be connected together to be operated as asingle large transistor.

FIG. 27 shows how leads or electrodes may be connected to the nodes ofthe concentric gate transistor. Each lead may be made from a conductivelayer, such as metal. A lead 2710 connects to a gate electrode of thedevice. Multiple gate electrodes may be connected to in a similarfashion. A lead 2720 connects to one end of one or more nanotubes. Thisend (top end) of the nanotube may be a source or drain electrode. A lead2730 connects to the other end of one or more nanotubes. This other end(bottom end) of the nanotube may be a source or drain electrode. Notethat lead 2730 and conductive layers in the pores are not electricallyconnected. As one of skill in the art understands, in a transistordevice, one end of the transistor will be the source while the other endwill be the drain.

For the concentric gate implementation of the invention, the poroustemplate or structure in which the pores may be an insulator orinsulating material such as alumina, silicon oxide, sapphire, glass, orothers, or combinations of these. In alternative implementation, theporous structure may be a conductive material such as aluminum, silicon,germanium, or gallium arsenide. In the case when the porous structure isconductive, so that there will not be an electrical short, an insulatingmaterial will be formed between the conductive layer (i.e., gateelectrode) and the porous structure. The porous structure may be formedon a substrate. An example is forming porous alumina on an aluminum orsilicon substrate.

Regarding FIG. 27, the structure with pores is formed. The structure maybe on a substrate. The conductive layer is deposited on the inside ofthe pores. This conductive layer may be deposited to touch the poroussubstrate in the case the porous substrate is nonconductive, but if thesubstrate is conductive, an insulating layer or coating be formed in thepore to electrically isolate the conductive layer from porous substrate.The conductive layer may be deposited by a metal, semimetal, orsemiconductor. The layer may include aluminum, molybdenum, tungsten,platinum, titanium, copper, silicon, polysilicon, titanium nitride, orsimilar. The layer may be deposited by sputtering, evaporation, atomiclayer deposition (ALD), solution-based chemical methods,electrochemistry, chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced chemicalvapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, or other technique known inthe art. In an embodiment, it is preferable that the layer is depositedconformally. The layer may only coat a portion of the pore's length suchas half of the pore length or 90 percent of the pore length.

The conductive layer is further coated by an insulating layer. Theinsulating layer may include metal oxides, nitrides, silicon oxide,silicon nitride, salts, ceramics, or other insulating material. Thelayer may be deposited by sputtering, evaporation, atomic layerdeposition (ALD), solution based chemical methods, electrochemistry,chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition,physical vapor deposition, or other technique known in the art. It ispreferable that the layer is deposited conformally and coats theconductive layer. The layer may only coat a portion of the pore's lengthsuch as half of the pore length or 90 percent of the pore length. In anembodiment, the layer will coat at least as much of the pore length asthe conductive layer.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are deposited within the pores.The SWNTs may be synthesized directly in the pores or transferred to thepores after synthesis. The SWNTs may be synthesized by chemical vapordeposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, arc discharge,laser ablation, high pressure techniques, or any other technique knownin the art.

A first electrode is connected to one side of a plurality of SWNTs. Asecond electrode is connected to the opposite side of the plurality ofSWNTs. The conductive layer on the inside of the pores may be connectedand form a gate electrode. The conductive layer is electrically isolatedfrom both the first and second electrode. The conductive layer mayextend from the inside of the pores to the top of the pores, and may becoated by the insulating layer. The insulating layer may be patternedand removed by lithographic and etching techniques known in the art, inorder to expose the conductive layer and make an electrical connection.

The structure with pores may be on a substrate. The substrate may be aconductor, semimetal, semiconductor, or insulator. The substrate mayform a first electrode, or bottom electrode. An optional conductivelayer may be deposited on the substrate and form the bottom electrode.The conductive layer inside the pores and the insulating layer on theconductive layer is deposited. A portion of the conductive layer insidethe pores may be removed (e.g., the portion at the bottom of the pores).This may occur before or after the insulating layer is deposited on theconductive layer inside the pores. A portion of the insulating layer onthe conductive layer inside the pores may be removed (e.g. the portionat the bottom of the pores).

SWNTs are synthesized within the pores. A catalyst may be used for thesynthesis of SWNTs. The catalyst may be predeposited (i.e., before poreformation), deposited after the pores are formed but before theconductive layer and insulating layer on the inside of the pores aredeposited, or deposited after the conductive layer and insulating layeron the inside of the pores are deposited. The catalyst may be depositedby sputtering, evaporation, atomic layer deposition (ALD),solution-based chemical methods, electrochemistry, chemical vapordeposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, physical vapordeposition, or other technique known in the art. A top electrode isdeposited which connects to a plurality of SWNTs.

The conductive layer on the inside of the pores is connected and forms agate electrode. The conductive layer may extend from the inside of thepores to the top of the pores, and may be coated by the insulatinglayer. The insulating layer may be patterned and removed by lithographicand etching techniques known in the art, in order to expose theconductive layer and make an electrical connection. The gate electrodeis electrically isolated from the top and bottom electrodes.

In a specific embodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotube are formedor placed in the pores before forming the layers. Single-walled carbonnanotubes are synthesized or transferred to uncoated pores. Thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes are isolated with oxide or similarinsulator. Then the gate material is added. The source or drain, orboth, may be contacted before or after the gate if added.

Furthermore, the single-walled carbon nanotube may be resting in placeon one side of the pore walls. Then, the insulating layer and any otherlayers will fill the pore and almost surround the entire length of thenanotube, but not the part of the nanotube that is in contact with theoriginal porous structure. If desirable, the portion of the nanotubethat is touching the porous structure may be removed. For example, thisportion may be removed by etching, chemical mechanical polishing,electropolishing, grinding, or other removal techniques. What will beleft will be the one or more layers and the single-walled carbonnanotube without the portion touching the porous structure.

In another specific embodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotubes areformed or placed in the pore after the layers are formed. To fabricatethis embodiment of the invention, one technique is, after fabricatingthe pores, to form in or coat the pores with a conductive material,which will become the gate. Then an insulating coating is added, whichwill be the gate oxide. Then single-walled carbon nanotubes aresynthesized or transferred, in a fashion as discussed elsewhere in thispatent, to the coated pores. Connections will then be made to thetransistors.

Two or more single-walled carbon nanotube transistors may bemanufactured on the same porous structure. These single-walled carbonnanotube transistors on the same structure may operate independently ofeach other, or may be electrically connected to each other in somefashion to form a circuit, an integrated circuit of single-walled carbonnanotube transistors. Single-walled carbon nanotube transistors of theinvention may be integrated with other devices which do not includecarbon nanotubes, such as NMOS, PMOS, or BJT transistors, diodes,resistances, capacitances, inductances, impedances, and others formed onthe same porous structure, or the devices without carbon nanotubes maybe on a separate structure, such as a semiconductor substrate. Thesemiconductor substrate may be silicon or gallium arsenide. Theseseparate structures (which may be referred to as dies) may be packagedtogether in a single package, or may be separately packaged.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a direct synthesis method forsingle-walled carbon nanotube placement, according to a specificembodiment of the present invention. In a step 1204, the techniqueanodizes cleaned and annealed aluminum foil to create a porous aluminumoxide layer. The starting aluminum material may be of any thickness, notonly in foil form. The starting aluminum material or aluminum substratemay be thicker than aluminum foil. As was discussed above, anothermaterial besides aluminum may be used as the starting material.

In a step 1208, verify pore quality including diameter, ordering, andhomogeneity. In a step 1212, check whether pore size and ordering isacceptable. These may be checked by atomic force microscopy (AFM),scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ellipsometry, or othercharacterization techniques, or combinations of these. If not, then in astep 1215, widen pores by chemical or mechanical processes. A secondanodization may be performed after removing the first pore structure inorder to increase ordering. The substrate may be dipped in a chemicalsolution such as phosphoric acid, chromic acid, or combinations of theseat a variety of temperatures, which will etch the pores to have a largerdiameter.

Once the pore size and ordering is acceptable, the technique proceeds toa step 1219 to deposit catalyst for single-walled carbon nanotubesynthesis at bottom of pores. Some examples of catalysts include iron(Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), or combinations ofthese by electrodeposition, sputtering, evaporation, or metalnanoparticles in the form of ferritin. The catalyst may be an alloy ofiron, nickel, or cobalt.

The catalyst permits the carbon nanotubes to form under the followingconditions: temperatures from about 400 degrees Celsius to about 1200degrees Celsius; hydrocarbon gas or carbon containing species, orcombination of these, in reactor or flowing through reactor. One exampleof conditions to grow carbon nanotubes is to use methane and hydrogen atabout 800 degrees Celsius to about 850 degrees Celsius. In a furtherembodiment, to grow carbon nanotubes, a temperature from about 600degrees Celsius to about 900 degrees Celsius is used.

In a step 1222, perform chemical vapor deposition synthesis ofsingle-walled carbon nanotubes. In a step 1226, verify acceptability ofthe single-walled carbon nanotubes. Characterize yield and quality. Ifnot acceptable, proceed to a step 1229, check for multiwalled carbonnanotubes, carbon tubules or fibers, or amorphous carbon. If there aremultiwalled or tubules or amorphous carbon, then the sample willprobably not be useable and the processing will starts over. Forexample, information about what happened to the present run through theprocess may be used to fine tune the process in further runs.Adjustments may be made to the synthesis conditions such as reducing theamount of reactive carbon and perhaps change or reduce the amount ofcatalyst.

If after step 1226 the single-walled carbon nanotube are acceptable,then proceed to step 1232, open unexposed end of pores by chemicaletching of aluminum base.

In a step 1235, check whether there are extraneous single-walled carbonnanotubes or defective single-walled carbon nanotubes. If not, proceedto step 1243, otherwise proceed to step 1237 to remove unwantedsingle-walled carbon nanotubes or portions of these by chemical ormechanical means. For example, selective etching of extraneous nanotubesby plasma etching or acid treatment, possibly in conjunction withlithographic patterning for protection of wanted tubes may be used.

Then proceed to step 1243, to pattern a source electrode on one side ofthe aluminum oxide structure, drain electrode on the opposite side, andisolated gate electrode. During this step, the single-walled carbonnanotube transistor is formed.

In a step 1247, test the transistor device. Determine if anysingle-walled carbon nanotube connections do not show effective fieldeffect transistor characteristics. If not, proceed to step 1256,otherwise in step 1250, remove unwanted single-walled carbon nanotubesor portions of these by electrical, chemical, or mechanical means. Atechnique such as the electrical burn-off technique discussed may beused.

In step 1256, the transistor device is packaged and tested.

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of a transfer method for single-walledcarbon nanotube placement, according to a specific embodiment of thepresent invention. In a step 1303, the technique anodizes cleaned andannealed aluminum foil to create a porous aluminum oxide layer. Thestarting aluminum material may be of any thickness, not only in foilform. The starting aluminum material or aluminum substrate may bethicker than aluminum foil. As was discussed above, another materialbesides aluminum may be used as the starting material.

In a step 1306, verify pore quality including diameter, ordering, andhomogeneity. In a step 1309, check whether pore size and ordering isacceptable. These may be checked by atomic force microscopy (AFM),scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ellipsometry, or othercharacterization techniques, or combinations of these. If not, then in astep 1311, widen pores by chemical or mechanical processes. A secondanodization may be performed after removing the first pore structure inorder to increase ordering. The substrate may be dipped in a chemicalsolution such as phosphoric acid, chromic acid, or combinations of theseat a variety of temperatures, which will etch the pores to have a largerdiameter.

Once the pore size and ordering is acceptable, the technique proceeds toa step 1315 to open unexposed end of pores by chemical etching ofaluminum base. In a step 1318, filter single-walled carbon nanotubesolution or suspension through pores to deposit single-walled carbonnanotubes within the aluminum oxide structure. In a step 1322, verifyfor single-walled carbon nanotube yield and quality.

In a step 1324, check whether there are extraneous single-walled carbonnanotubes or defective single-walled carbon nanotubes. If not, proceedto step 1331, otherwise proceed to step 1327 to remove unwantedsingle-walled carbon nanotubes or portions of these by chemical ormechanical means. For example, selective etching of extraneous nanotubesby plasma etching or acid treatment, possibly in conjunction withlithographic patterning for protection of wanted tubes, may be used.Then the next step is 1331.

In step 1331, pattern a source electrode on one side of the aluminumoxide structure, drain electrode on the opposite side, and isolated gateelectrode. During this step, the single-walled carbon nanotubetransistor is formed.

In a step 1336, test the transistor device. Determine if anysingle-walled carbon nanotube connections do not show effective fieldeffect transistor characteristics. If not, proceed to step 1343,otherwise in step 1340, remove unwanted single-walled carbon nanotubesor portions of these by electrical, chemical, or mechanical means. Theelectrical burn-off technique discussed above may be used.

In step 1343, the transistor device is packaged and tested.

Various embodiments and implementation of the invention are providedbelow. An example embodiment of the present invention is a method formaking a transistor or power transistor that includes the following.Aluminum is anodized and holes are formed in the aluminum oxide. One endof the aluminum oxide will be open. A catalyst is put at the bottom ofholes. At a temperature under about 650 Celsius, single-walled carbonnanotubes are grown from the bottom of holes to the top and possiblyextending out of the top. It is desirable to have one single-walledcarbon nanotube per hole or pore. Bulk aluminum and any thin film ofalumina are removed to expose the bottom of holes and the resultantsingle-walled carbon nanotubes. Added are a drain to one side and sourceto one side of the material with holes. A gate is added to one or moresides of the material with holes. In another embodiment, etch or createa trench to place the gate into the aluminum oxide.

Note that adding one of the electrodes (drain or source) to the top sidemay be performed before or after the step of removing the bulk aluminum.Adding the gate to the top side can be performed before or after thestep of removing the bulk aluminum.

A protector or insulator film can be added to help isolate the gate. Theprotector film can be performed before adding the gate and can beperformed before removing the bulk aluminum.

For this and other method embodiments, that if the material for theholes is not to be aluminum oxide, then the hole-making steps to be usedwould be any competent hole-making steps for the particular materialchosen.

In a further embodiment, the present invention is a method for making apower transistor that includes the following. Anodize aluminum and formholes, where one end is open. Remove bulk aluminum. A thin aluminumoxide may remain which keeps the holes covered. Put catalyst at bottomof holes. Grow single-walled carbon nanotubes (desirable to have one perhole) from the bottom of holes to the top and possible extending out ofthe top. Remove any thin film of alumina to expose the bottom of holesand the resultant single-walled carbon nanotubes. Add drain to one sideand a source to one side. Add gate to one or more sides, oralternatively or in additionally, etch trench or other opening into thealuminum oxide and form gate in trench or opening.

Adding one electrode (drain or source) and the gate to top side (andpossibly a protector film) may be performed before the remove bulkaluminum step.

In a further embodiment, the present invention is a method for making atransistor or power transistor that includes the following. Anodizealuminum and form holes, where one end may be open. Remove bulk aluminumand any alumina film to fully expose both ends of holes. Put or positioncatalyst at one end of holes. By position, this could be by placing thetemplate on another substrate that is covered with catalyst. Thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes could grow up and through the hole. Growsingle-walled carbon nanotubes in a further embodiment (desirable tohave just one per hole) from one end of hole and through the holes tothe other end, possibly extending from the holes. Add a drain to oneside and a source to one side. Add gate to one or more sides, oralternatively or in additionally, etch trench or other opening into thealuminum oxide and form gate in trench or opening.

In a further embodiment, the present invention is a method for making atransistor or power transistor that includes the following. Place sourceon a substrate. Add aluminum layer onto source layer. Anodize holes inaluminum layer to form porous aluminum oxide. Verify that holes reachthe source. Verification may include an etch step. Put catalyst onbottom of holes. Grow single-walled carbon nanotubes through holes andpossibly extending through the hole. The nanotubes may be electricallyconnected to source. Add drain and gate.

Note that in this embodiment, the aluminum oxide with pores is directlyon a substrate with source already there. The substrate also providedmechanical stability. The alumina film can then be thin and robust. Thecatalyst can also be placed on the source layer before adding thealuminum layer step.

In another example implementation approach, both ends of the holes areexposed and catalyst is put or positioned at one end of the pore.Single-walled carbon nanotubes then grow from one end of the pore andthrough the pore to the other end, possibly extending out the end. Forinstance, the aluminum oxide film with pores can be contacted to asubstrate covered with single-walled carbon nanotube catalyst. Inanother form, the aluminum to be anodized can be deposited or placed ona substrate, which can be used as a form of mechanical stability. Asource electrode can be placed between the substrate and aluminum, suchthat the holes will reach the source. Single-walled carbon nanotube willbe contacted electrically to the source during and after synthesis. Thecatalyst for single-walled carbon nanotube synthesis can be placed onthe source before or the formation of the porous aluminum oxide film.

Other embodiments of the present invention are apparatuses or articlesproduced according to any method embodiment of the present invention orproduced using any apparatus or article embodiment of the presentinvention.

Further example embodiments include the following. A transistor deviceincludes a structure that defines a number of pores. Single-walledcarbon nanotubes will be inside at least some of the number of pores. Afirst electrode on a first side of the structure connects to multipleones of the single-walled carbon nanotubes. A second electrode on asecond (e.g., opposing) side of the structure connects to multiple onesof the single-walled carbon nanotubes. There is a third electrode thatis electrically isolated from the first and second electrode.

The first electrode may define the source of the transistor. The secondelectrode may define the drain of the transistor. The third electrodemay define the gate of the transistor. The device operates as afield-effect transistor. The number of pores includes pores withdiameters within the range of about 1 nanometer to about 200 nanometers.The structure has pore densities of about 10⁶ per square centimeter toabout 10¹⁴ per square centimeter.

In an embodiment, at least a given percentage of pores will be known tocontain single-walled carbon nanotubes. Each pore may include zero, one,or multiple single-walled carbon nanotubes. At least about 60 percent ofthe single-walled carbon nanotubes are semiconducting. In an embodiment,metallic, noneffective, or unwanted single-walled carbon nanotubes havebeen destroyed, modified, or removed by chemical, mechanical, orelectrical techniques.

In an embodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotubes predominantlyinclude p-type semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. In anotherembodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotubes predominantly includen-type semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. In anotherembodiment, the p-type and n-type devices are integrated on the samechip. Single-walled carbon nanotubes may be synthesized directly withinat least some of the number of pores of the structure. Chemical vapordeposition may be used to synthesize the single-walled carbon nanotubes.An effective catalyst is used to synthesize single-walled carbonnanotubes. The catalyst includes iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), or cobalt (Co),or a combination of these. The catalyst may be an alloy of iron, nickel,or cobalt, or a combination of these.

The single-walled carbon nanotubes predominantly may have diameters fromabout 0.4 nanometers to about 5 nanometers. In an embodiment, at least agiven percentage of single-walled carbon nanotubes are known orestimated to have lengths greater than or about equal to the length ofthe pores in the structure.

Unwanted single-walled carbon nanotubes, or portions of these, aredestroyed, modified, or removed by chemical, mechanical, or electricaltechniques. Single-walled carbon nanotubes may have been transferred tothe pores of the structure. The single-walled carbon nanotubes, beforetransfer to the pores, may have been synthesized by chemical vapordeposition, arc-discharge, or laser ablation techniques.

The single-walled carbon nanotubes may have been in solutions orsuspensions for use in transfer to the structure. The solution orsuspension flowed through the pores in the structure and single-walledcarbon nanotubes were deposited within the pores.

In an embodiment, at least a given percentage of single-walled carbonnanotubes have lengths greater than or about equal to the length of thepores in the structure. The single-walled carbon nanotubes may havediameters of from about 0.4 nanometers to about 5 nanometers. Unwantedsingle-walled carbon nanotubes, or portions of these, may be destroyed,modified, or removed by chemical, mechanical, or electrical techniques.

The gate electrode may be located on one or both sides of the structure.The gate electrode may be partially or completely etched into thestructure. In an embodiment, the device is capable of achieving highcurrent densities of at least about 5000 amps per square centimeter.

In an embodiment, the structure is made of a material and thestructure's pore pattern was obtained by being transferred onto thestructure via a pore-pattern template by chemical, electrochemical, dryetching, or mechanical techniques. The material may be silicon, silicongermanium, gallium nitride, germanium, gallium arsenide, plastic,polymer, glass, or quartz. The pore-pattern template may includealuminum oxide.

In further embodiments, the invention is the use of a carbon nanotubetransistor as described in this patent as a power transistor, poweramplifier, high current switch, power source for DC or other motors, orgeneral power supply. The invention is the use of a carbon nanotubetransistor as described in this patent as a transistor capable ofachieving high current densities of at least about 1000 amps per squarecentimeter. The transistor device may have a structure includingaluminum oxide. Other materials may include silicon, silicon germanium,gallium nitride, germanium, gallium arsenide, plastic, polymer, glass,quartz, or combinations of these. The invention is the use of silicon,silicon oxide, silicon nitride, gallium nitride, gallium arsenide,plastic, polymer, glass, quartz, a metal, or combinations of these toform a carbon nanotube transistor as described in this patent.

As a further example, in described embodiments of the invention, atransistor or power transistor device may be configured to obtain alarge number or density of single-walled carbon nanotubes, or both ofthese. For example, a power transistor device can be configured to begreater than nano-sized, greater than one square micron, greater thantwo square microns, or greater than five square microns, or even larger.

As a further example, the transistor device shown schematically in FIG.11 shows a small number pores and the gate on one or two sides of thesingle-walled carbon nanotubes, for illustrative simplicity. Moregenerally, in embodiments of the invention, a single power transistordevice may be configured to include more than one thousand pores thatcontain single-walled carbon nanotubes, more than two thousand, or morethan five thousand, or even more, pores that contain single-walledcarbon nanotubes. The gate electrode may be configured in any competentconfiguration. In some embodiments, the gate is arranged such that onegate structure helps to control a number of single-walled carbonnanotubes, including single-walled carbon nanotubes of varying nearestdistances to the gate structure. For example, single-walled carbonnanotubes, some of which are at least twice, or at least three times, orat least five times as far from the gate structure as are othersingle-walled carbon nanotubes, are controlled by the gate structure. Asa further example, in any embodiment of the invention, a transistor orpower transistor device according to the embodiment may use a porousstructure that is made from any nonconductive, competent material.

Nanostructure Junction Fabrication

In an embodiment, the present invention includes diode,silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR), and other related devices havingcarbon nanotubes, and methods for making such devices using carbonnanotube technology. Such devices will have nanostructure junctions. Theabove discussion regarding transistors using carbon nanotube technologymay be applied, with appropriate changes, to diode, silicon-controlledrectifier, and other related devices using carbon nanotube technology.And the discussion below regarding diode, silicon-controlled rectifier,and other related devices using carbon nanotube technology may beapplied, with appropriate changes, to transistors using carbon nanotubetechnology. A diode, silicon-controlled rectifier, or other relateddevices of the invention may be manufactured on the same porousstructure as a single-walled carbon nanotube transistor.

Rectifying devices are electronic devices that conduct electricity in aspecific direction. Generally, the devices are nonlinear and more easilyconduct in a forward direction than the reverse direction. Diodes aretwo terminal devices with applications of AC-to-DC conversion,separating signals from radio frequencies, on/off switches, logiccircuits, voltage regulators, half wave rectification, peakrectification, bridge rectification, limiter circuits, voltage doublers,DC restorers, and more. There are Zener diodes which operate in thereverse direction and Schottky diodes which perform well at highfrequencies. Desirable qualities of diodes include high breakdownvoltages, high current carrying capability, low voltage drop duringconductance, very low reverse recovery, and small switching time delays.Thyristors and silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) act as switcheswhere the current generally only passes in one direction.

Generally, an important component in these devices is a junction, whichconnects two semiconductors or electronic regions within asemiconductor. This junction may be a p-n junction which is a junctionfor a p-type semiconducting region with an n-type semiconducting region.Another junction includes the combining of regions of differing electroncarrier concentration such varying n+ concentration in n-type regions orlower electron concentrations to higher electron concentrations. Anotherjunction includes the combining of regions of differing hole carrierconcentration such as p+ concentration in p-type regions or lower holeconcentrations to higher hole concentrations. Another junction is aheterojunction between two different materials.

Presently these types of rectifying devices are based largely on silicontechnology. Silicon carbide, gallium nitride, gallium arsenide,germanium, and other semiconducting materials are also being used.Limitations to this technology, where the advancement in performance isoften referred to as top-down scaling, are in the physical properties ofthe bulk semiconductor as it scales down to smaller and smaller featuresizes, such as in the nanometer scale, and the development of moreadvanced lithographic and other processing tools. The possiblelimitations of current technology in the near future have given momentumto research on nanoscale and molecular materials. This type oftechnology is often referred to as bottom-up. Two types ofone-dimensional nanostructures that have potential application in futuretechnology are nanowires and nanotubes. Nanowires may include silicon,germanium, gallium nitride, metal oxides, III/V elements, II/VIelements, and other materials. Nanowires are solid structures. Nanotubeshave hollow cores and include carbon, boron nitride, or other materials,or combinations of these. Carbon is the most common form of nanotube.Carbon nanotubes are believed to be the most thermally conductivematerial known, significantly more conductive than diamond and graphite.They are also the strongest material known, with extremely high tensilestrength, Young's modulus, and resiliency. Their electrical propertiesvary from metallic conduction to semiconducting with a variety of bandgap sizes, and these properties are determined by their physicalstructure.

Semiconducting carbon nanotubes may be made p-type by exposure to air,oxygen, or ambient. It is possible to control the majority carrier typeand concentration by intentional exposure to gaseous species, polymers,liquids, metallic or semiconducting particles, or various coatings. Anapproach anneals at 425 degrees Celsius in nitrogen to produce n-typenanotube transistors Annealing, vacuum heating, or other methods canproduce n-type nanotubes by removing adsorbed species such as oxygen.

An approach uses potassium doping to create n-type nanotube segments.Potassium atoms are expelled from a potassium source through electricalheating in vacuum, and the potassium atoms adsorb onto exposed carbonnanotube sections and donate electrons to the tube. Electron donationtransfers the segment from p-type to n-type. By protecting part of thecarbon nanotube from the potassium doping, one may produce p-njunctions. Electrostatic doping or gating can be used to modify theelectrical nature of carbon nanotubes. For instance, gating can be usedto change the majority carrier type and concentration, which modulatesthe nanotube electrical properties.

An approach uses a split gate structure to form p-n junctions in carbonnanotube devices. One gate is set to a positive 10 volts and the othergate is set to a negative 10 volts. This produces a p-side and n-sideand a p-n junction, which is shown in the rectification of thecurrent-voltage measurements. Intentional nitrogen doping during carbonnanotube synthesis may be used to create CNx/C junctions. Rectificationoccurs due to junctions between multiwalled carbon nanotubes and CNxnanotubes. The nitrogen content in the CNx nanotube may be about 9.5percent.

Nanowires may be fabricated with junctions through doping andheterostructure synthesis. There are gallium nitride nanowires with p-njunctions, where magnesium nitride is added during nanowire synthesis inorder to form junctions. Heterostructures and superlattices may occur innanowires, where alternating segments are produced by alternating thenanowire material precursor during synthesis. Indium phosphide andsilicon nanowires with alternating p-n junctions are characterized andshow rectification.

Gallium arsenide/gallium phosphide alternating segments may havemultiple heterojunctions within single nanowires. Junctions can also becreated by traditional means such as ion implantation. Carbon nanotubesmay also form junctions with nanowires. There may be a heterojunctionsbetween carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires. The synthesis is atwo-step process where either the silicon nanowires are synthesized thenthe carbon nanotubes, or the carbon nanotubes were synthesized followedby the silicon nanowires. Devices having these junctions showrectification.

The potential for these nanostructures and their ability to perform asnanoelectronic devices has been shown. It would be advantageous to havemethods to incorporate the nanostructures into devices that arepractical, scalable, and allow for the voltages, currents, and powersrequired for current industry applications. Single or few nanostructuredevices will not be sufficient in most cases due to the limitations ofcurrent and power. New methods and architectures are required toincorporate the nanostructures into practical devices.

What is needed is a scalable and practical method for fabricatingnanostructure-based diodes, rectifiers, thyristors, silicon controlledrectifiers, or related devices that takes advantage of the highperformance potential of the nanostructures. Combining the potential ofnanowires and carbon nanotubes in a controlled manner is advantageous.

One embodiment of the present invention includes a device having anumber of carbon nanotubes and nanowires within a porous template orstructure including a material such as aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), titaniumoxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, or othermaterials, or combinations of these.

The pores are formed by any competent method. One approach usesanodization of metal precursors such as the anodization of aluminum toform porous aluminum oxide. The pores will be vertically aligned. Thecarbon nanotubes are either directly synthesized within the pores or aretransferred to the pores after synthesis. The nanowires are deposited onone end of the pores. A first electrode is placed so that a multitude ofthe carbon nanotubes are connected.

A second electrode is placed so that a multitude of the nanowires areconnected. For example, the first electrode is placed on one side of thetemplate or structure, and the second electrode is placed on the other,for example, opposing or opposite side. The carbon nanotubes may havediameters that do not significantly change along the length of thenanotube and which are less than the diameter of the pores.

The nanowires have diameters about equal to the pore diameters, andpartially extend from one end into the pores. The nanowires should coverat least some portion of at least some of the carbon nanotubes. Thenanowires may be deposited by electrodeposition, evaporation,sputtering, or related techniques. They may be deposited at the bottomof the pores. They may be deposited from the top of the pores, forexample, by pressure injection, force on molten material, evaporation,sputtering, or related techniques. In some embodiments, both ends of thepores are open and the nanowires may be deposited on either end.

One or more additional electrodes (e.g., gates) may be added to modulatethe properties of at least some portion of the carbon nanotubes ornanowires, or both. The heterostructure may be used to form a rectifyingjunction, where current flows better in one direction than anotherdirection. The device is suited for use as electronic device. It isespecially suited for use as a diode, rectifier, silicon controlledrectifier, thyristor, varistor, or related devices.

The device is capable of high current densities, high power, andefficient power delivery. There are large densities of possibleconnections, and it is not necessary for every pore to contain afunctioning carbon nanotube-nanowire heterostructure device. Theredundancy allows for defects, failures, and low yields. Any unwanted,noneffective, or extraneous carbon nanotubes or portions of these may beremoved by any competent method such as chemical, electrical, ormechanical methods, or the like, or any other methods. The device may beconfigured to obtain significantly higher current densities and powercapabilities than is currently conventionally available withsemiconductor technology to obtain increased performance, suitable for avariety of power applications.

In one embodiment of the present invention, carbon nanotubes aredirectly synthesized within the pores of the structure. The structurewith pores may be formed by anodization of a metal such as aluminum,titanium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, or combinations of these. Thepores may be formed by etching techniques including, for example, dryetching, plasma etching, chemical etching, wet etching, reactive ionetching, or combinations of these.

The synthesis of carbon nanotubes may occur with or without the presenceof catalyst. Chemical vapor deposition may be used for the synthesis ofthe carbon nanotubes. Any unwanted, noneffective, or extraneous carbonnanotubes or portions of these may be removed by any competent methodsuch as chemical, electrical, or mechanical methods, or the like, or anyother methods.

The nanowires may be deposited on either end of the pores. A firstelectrode is placed on one side of the structure and connects tomultiple of the carbon nanotubes. A second electrode is placed on theother, opposing or opposite, side of the structure and connects tomultiple of the nanowires. The nanowires cover at least some portion ofat least some of the carbon nanotubes and form heterostructures. Theelectrodes can be placed by any competent method including depositiontechniques such as lithographic or nonlithographic techniques. Theremaining area within the pores may be partially or completely filledwith a material. This material may be used to passivate, protect,stabilize, or modify the properties of the carbon nanotubes ornanowires, or both.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the structure with a numberof pores is on a substrate. The substrate may be a semiconductor,conductor, or insulator. The substrate may be used primarily formechanical support, or it may be used for electrical or thermaladvantages. In one embodiment, the substrate is one of the electrodes.The substrate is coated with a metal such as, for example, aluminum,titanium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, or combinations of these by anyeffective method. For instance, the metal may be deposited bysputtering, thermal evaporation, or electron beam evaporation.

The metal is anodized which creates a number of pores, where multiple ofthe pores extend to the underlying substrate. Before the deposition ofthe metal to be anodized, the underlying substrate may be coated with aconducting layer to define or improve the conductivity of the bottomelectrode. This layer may be a metal such as molybdenum, tungsten,platinum, or other conductive layer.

An additional catalyst deposition step may be used after the conductinglayer on underlying substrate is deposited. The catalyst layer may alsobe applied directly to the underlying substrate in the absence of theconducting layer. The catalyst is exposed after the formation of thepores in the insulating layer, and may be used for the synthesis ofcarbon nanotubes. In another embodiment, the catalyst is deposited afterthe formation of the pores. In yet another embodiment, the synthesis ofcarbon nanotubes does not require the catalyst. Any unwanted,noneffective, or extraneous carbon nanotubes or portions of these may beremoved by any competent method including chemical, electrical, ormechanical methods, or the like, or any other methods.

Nanowires are deposited and form heterostructures with at least some ofthe carbon nanotubes. In one embodiment, the nanowires are deposited atthe bottom of the pores and extend upwards partially through the pores.The bottom electrode (i.e., substrate or conductive layer on thesubstrate) then connects to a multitude of the nanowires. A topelectrode is placed that connects to a multitude of the carbonnanotubes. In another embodiment, the nanowires are deposited on the topend of the pores. The bottom electrode (i.e., substrate or conductivelayer on the substrate) is used to connect to a multitude of the carbonnanotubes. A top electrode is placed that connects to a multitude of thenanowires.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the structure with a numberof pores is on a substrate. The substrate may be a semiconductor,conductor, or insulator. The substrate may be used primarily formechanical support or it may be used for electrical or thermaladvantages.

In one embodiment, the substrate is one of the electrodes. The substrateis coated with a material such as a conductive material, and a number ofpores are formed in the material, where multiple of the pores extend tothe underlying substrate. The conductive material may be deposited byany competent method. For instance, the metal may be deposited bysputtering, thermal evaporation, or electron beam evaporation.

The pores may be formed by any competent method. For instance, etchingtechniques may be used including, for example, dry etching, plasmaetching, chemical etching, wet etching, reactive ion etching, orcombinations of these. A mask may be used for the etching process. Theprocess may including using a photoresist, a metal, a metal oxide, aninsulator, a semiconductor, an anodized aluminum oxide layer with pores,an anodized metal oxide layer with pores, or combinations of these.Before the deposition of the material, the underlying substrate may becoated with a conducting layer to define or improve the conductivity ofthe bottom electrode such as, for example, a metal, molybdenum,tungsten, platinum, or other conductive layer.

An additional catalyst deposition step may be used after the conductinglayer on underlying substrate is deposited. The catalyst layer may alsobe applied directly to the underlying substrate in the absence of theconducting layer. The catalyst is exposed after the formation of thepores in the material, and may be used for the synthesis of carbonnanotubes. In another embodiment, the catalyst is deposited after theformation of the pores. In yet another embodiment, the synthesis ofcarbon nanotubes does not require the catalyst. Any unwanted,noneffective, or extraneous carbon nanotubes or portions of these may beremoved by any competent method including, for example, chemical,electrical, or mechanical methods, or the like, or any other method.

Nanowires are deposited and form heterostructures with at least some ofthe carbon nanotubes. In one embodiment, the nanowires are deposited atthe bottom of the pores and extend upwards partially through the pores.The bottom electrode (i.e., substrate or conductive layer on thesubstrate) then connects to a multitude of the nanowires. A topelectrode is placed that connects to a multitude of the carbonnanotubes. In another embodiment, the nanowires are deposited on the topend of the pores. The bottom electrode (i.e., substrate or conductivelayer on the substrate) is used to connect to a multitude of the carbonnanotubes. A top electrode is placed that connects to a multitude of thenanowires.

In one embodiment of the present invention, carbon nanotubes aresynthesized before incorporation into the structure with a number ofpores. The synthesis can be by any competent method, for example,chemical vapor deposition, arc-discharge, or laser ablation, or thelike, or any other techniques. The carbon nanotubes can further beseparated to optimize the nanotube characteristics for incorporation inthe device. These characteristics may be the electrical properties,lengths, diameters, defect concentration, and other properties.

Carbon nanotubes in solutions, suspensions, or composites aretransferred to the pores as the liquid flows through or into the pores.Microfluidic methods may be used. The structure with pores may be amembrane where the majority of pores are open on both sides, or it maybe supported by remaining bulk material, or it may be on a substrate.Any unwanted, noneffective, or extraneous carbon nanotubes or portionsof these may be removed by any competent method such as, for example,chemical, electrical, or mechanical methods, or the like, or any othermethods.

The nanowires may be deposited on either end of the pores. A firstelectrode is placed on one side of the structure and connects tomultiple of the carbon nanotubes. A second electrode is placed on theother, for example, opposing or opposite, side of the structure andconnects to multiple of the nanowires. The nanowires cover at least someportion of at least some of the carbon nanotubes and formheterostructures. The electrodes can be placed by any competent methodincluding deposition techniques including lithographic ornonlithographic techniques. The remaining area within the pores may bepartially or completely filled with a material. This material may beused to passivate, protect, stabilize, or modify the properties of thecarbon nanotubes, or combinations of these.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the structure with a numberof pores is a conductive material. Before deposition of carbon nanotubesand nanowires, a thin insulating layer is formed on the walls of thepores. The layer may be formed by any competent method including, forexample, forming a metal oxide layer on the conductive material byheating in an oxidative environment; by forming a native oxide layer; orby sputtering, evaporating, or depositing an insulating layer on thepore walls. The structure is then useful as a gate electrode, which isused to modulate the properties of at least some portion of the carbonnanotubes or nanowires, or both.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the structure with a numberof pores can be primarily made of an insulating, conductive, orsemiconductive material, where the pattern of pores is transferred to itby any competent method. The pattern of pores in the structure may bemade by transfer from a first porous structure that includes aluminumoxide, titanium oxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide,or combinations of these, and that has been made porous as discussedelsewhere in this patent. For example, the transfer of pores can use thefirst porous structure as a mask and etching through the pores into theother medium, where the etching can be through chemical, mechanical, orelectrical methods such as, for example, dry etching, plasma etching,chemical etching, wet etching, reactive ion etching. The first porousstructure can remain, be partially removed, or be completely removedbefore forming the device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the method is used tofabricate an electronic device that is a diode, rectifier, siliconcontrolled rectifier, or thyristor including a structure that defines anumber of pores, carbon nanotubes within at least some of the number ofpores, nanowires forming heterostructures with at least some of thecarbon nanotubes, a first electrode on a first side of the structureconnecting to multiple ones of the carbon nanotubes, and a secondelectrode on a second (e.g., opposing) side of the structure connectingto multiple ones of the nanowires.

The structure with pores may include a metal, a semiconductor, or aninsulator. For instance, the structure may include aluminum oxide,titanium oxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, siliconoxide, silicon nitride, yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide, hafnium oxide,zinc oxide, silicon, gallium nitride, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide,plastic, polymer, glass, quartz, carbon, aluminum, copper, molybdenum,tantalum, tungsten, a noble metal, or combinations of these. At leastone gate electrode may be added to the device. In another embodiment,the structure that defines the number of pores may be used as a gate.The gate can electrostatically modulate the properties of the device. Inthis embodiment, a thin insulating or protective layer may be added tothe structure before the deposition or synthesis of carbon nanotubes andnanowires.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the method is used tofabricate a device that is a diode, rectifier, silicon controlledrectifier, or thyristor including a structure with a number of pores,where the structure includes at two or more layers. The layers may bedifferent materials. The layers may be insulating, semiconducting, orconductive. In one embodiment, there are two or more layers, where atleast one is insulating and at least another is conductive. Thestructure may be fabricated by forming a number of pores on a firstlayer and transferring it to additional layers. For instance, the firstlayer may include aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, niobium oxide,tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, or combinations of these, where thepores are formed by any competent method including anodization methods.The pores may be transferred to additional layers by any competentmethod such as, for example, etching through chemical, mechanical, orelectrical methods, or dry etching, plasma etching, chemical etching,wet etching, reactive ion etching, or combinations of these.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a significant number of thecarbon nanotubes are semiconducting and the nanowires are metallic. Inanother embodiment, the carbon nanotubes are primarily metallic and thenanowires are semiconducting. In yet another embodiment, a significantnumber of carbon nanotubes are semiconducting and the nanowires aresemiconducting.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electrical properties ofthe carbon nanotubes, nanowires, or both, are modified by chemical orelectrical methods, for example based on controlled environmentalexposure, ambient exposure, exposure to oxidative environments,intentional doping or coatings, annealing, heating in vacuum,electrostatic doping, polymer coatings, or combinations of these.

The method according to the present invention allows for large densitiesof possible connections, and it is not necessary for every pore tocontain a functioning carbon nanotube-nanowire heterostructure device.The redundancy allows for defects, failures, and low yields.

In one embodiment of the present invention, after device fabrication,the electronic device is properly mounted and packaged in order toachieve overall mechanical, electrical, and thermal quality andstability as a final product.

Referring again to FIGS. 8 and 9, the pores are open at one end. Porediameter is usually from about 5 nanometers to about 500 nanometers.Pore density is usually about 10⁷ per square centimeter to about 10¹²per square centimeter. In some specific embodiments, the pore densitywill be in a range from about 10⁸ to about 10¹¹. FIG. 8 top view showspores arranged in a hexagonal pattern. As discussed previously, anyother competent pattern may also or instead be used.

The structure is made by any competent method such as, for example,electrochemical anodized etching of a material including aluminum,titanium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, or combinations of these. Thelength and density of the pores is determined by anodization conditionsincluding voltage, current, and time. Pores can be widened afterfabrication by addition chemical techniques such as conventionaltechniques.

The more pure (e.g., 99.99 percent or better) the precursor material isthe better the results. It is cleaned and annealed prior beforefabrication. Usually the material is electropolished for some time. Afirst layer of pores may be created which need not be too organized andconsistent, which is removed by chemical means, and the second stage ofpore fabrication is then used to make the nicely arranged and qualitypores. The structure may also be made by lithographic methods andetching techniques. For example, a mask with pores may be used with dryetching techniques to produce the structure with a number of pores. Themask may be a photoresist, a metal, a metal oxide, silicon oxide,silicon nitride, or combinations of these. The mask may be removed afterthe etching process.

The process illustrated by FIG. 9 provides a structure where at leastsome of the number of pores extends through the structure. Both ends ofthe pores are open. The thickness of the structure (i.e., the length ofthe pores) is usually greater than 10 microns.

FIG. 14 illustrates the structure with the number of pores on asubstrate. A significant number of the pores can extend all the way tothe substrate. The substrate can be a conductor, semiconductor, orinsulator. The substrate can be the bulk material of the structure. Thesubstrate can be used for supporting the structure with the number ofpores, which is particularly useful when the structure is less thanabout 10 microns thick.

FIG. 15 show a cross-sectional view of a device with carbon nanotubes1510 in the pores of the structure 1520 and nanowires 1530 covering aportion of the carbon nanotubes. Top 1540 and bottom 1550 electrodes aredefined. FIG. 16 illustrates the device where a substrate 1660 is usedand connected to the bottom electrode.

Referring to FIG. 15, carbon nanotubes can be synthesized within thepores or transferred to the pores. A desired case is one carbon nanotubeper pore. However multiple nanotubes per pore may be utilized. Due toredundancy and a large number of pores per unit area, not all pores mustyield an effective device component. Some amounts of missing ordefective pores, missing or noneffective carbon nanotubes or nanowires,or both, carbon nanotube or nanowires, or both, removed by devicearchitecture requirements, and other yield issues will not make thedevice inoperative. Undesirables can be removed by any competenttechnique such as, for example, chemical, mechanical, or electricaltechniques, or the like, or any other technique. In view of redundancyand device density, the fact that not all pores yield an effectivedevice component will not render the device defective or inoperative.

Direct synthesis of carbon nanotubes within the pores can use anycompetent method. In one embodiment of the present invention, catalyzedchemical vapor deposition is used with an appropriate catalyst forcarbon nanotubes in the pores. The appropriate catalyst may be, forexample, iron, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, or combination of these, orcombination with other metals, where the catalyst may be placed throughmetal deposition such as by metal evaporators or electrochemicaldeposition of metals or by a wet deposition of catalyst where the metalcatalyst nanoparticle or particles is supported by a larger inorganicsupport or an organic shell (such as a ferritin protein or dendrimer).In another embodiment, chemical vapor deposition is used without thepresence of a catalyst.

The transfer method of carbon nanotube placement can use any competentmethod. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is asfollows. Fabricate pores in the structure including metal,semiconductor, insulator, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, niobium oxide,tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, or combinations of these, and thenexpose each side of the pores. Flow a solution or suspension containingcarbon nanotubes through the pores such that it leaves carbon nanotubesin the pores with the ability to contact at least one side with metalelectrodes. The carbon nanotubes are synthesized beforehand in bulk byany competent method, for example, a CVD, arc-discharge, or laserablation method or the like or any other method. Then they are put insolution or suspension by any competent method. The carbon nanotubes canfurther be separated by size and length and electrical characteristic.It is therefore possible to get a higher concentration of optimizedcarbon nanotubes than is possible by synthesis alone. The solution orsuspension can also be optimized for carbon nanotube diameter andlength.

Following deposition of the carbon nanotubes, the nanowires aredeposited in the pores and cover at least a portion of the carbonnanotubes. The nanowires may be deposited by any competent method suchas, for example, electrochemical, evaporation, sputtering, or relatedtechniques, or combinations of these. Molten or liquid materials may beinjected into the pores by, for example, pressure injection, capillaryforces, or related techniques. The first electrode connects to multipleones of the carbon nanotubes. The second electrode connects to multipleones of the nanowires.

Dimensions given above for pores, carbon nanotubes, and porous structuremay be applied here. A diameter of a nanowire may be up to a size of apore. The diameter of the nanowire may be less than the diameter of thepore. For example, if the pore is 100 nanometers in diameter, then thenanowire may be up to 100 nanometers is diameter.

Referring to FIG. 16, the structure with pores is supported by asubstrate and a significant number of the pores extend all the way tothe substrate. Carbon nanotubes can be synthesized within the pores ortransferred to the pores. The substrate may be coated with a conductivelayer. The substrate or conductive layer on the substrate may be coatedwith effective catalyst for carbon nanotube synthesis. Direct synthesisof carbon nanotubes within the pores can use any competent method. Inone embodiment of the present invention, catalyzed chemical vapordeposition is used. The catalyst may be predeposited at the bottom ofthe pores or deposited in the pores after pore formation. In anotherembodiment, chemical vapor deposition is used without the presence of acatalyst.

Following deposition of the carbon nanotubes, the nanowires aredeposited in the pores and cover at least a portion of the carbonnanotubes. The nanowires may be deposited by any competent method suchas, for example, electrochemical, evaporation, sputtering, or relatedtechniques, or combinations of these. Molten or liquid materials may beinjected into the pores by, for example, pressure injection, capillaryforces, or related techniques. The nanowires may be deposited on thebottom of the pores (e.g., by electrodeposition, evaporation, orsputtering techniques) and connect to the bottom electrode. The opposingelectrode would then connect to multiple ones of the carbon nanotubes.The nanowires may instead be deposited on the top side of the pores(e.g., by pressure injection, evaporation, molten material injection,evaporation, or sputtering techniques) and connect to the top electrode.The bottom electrode would then connect to multiple ones of the carbonnanotubes.

FIGS. 17, 18, 19, and 20 show results of a process for devicefabrication. FIG. 17 shows carbon nanotubes 1710 deposited in astructure 1720 with a number of pores. There is an optional conductinglayer 1750 between the structure with pores and support substrate 1760.FIG. 18 shows the nanowires 1830 deposited in the pores and covering aportion of the carbon nanotubes. FIG. 19 shows the first electrode 1940connecting to multiple ones of the carbon nanotubes. The secondelectrode 1950 is connected to multiple ones of the nanowires. FIG. 20shows an optional filler 2070 material that is used to fill-in a portionof the pores.

A structure is provided that defines a number of pores. In oneembodiment, the pores extend to a substrate. There may be a conductivelayer between the pores and the substrate. In some embodiments that usea direct synthesis method of carbon nanotubes, there may be catalyticspecies on the optional conductive layer. Carbon nanotubes are depositedin the pores such as, for example, by direct synthesis such as by CVD orby transferring presynthesized carbon nanotubes to the pores.

Nanowires are deposited at the bottom of the pores and cover at least aportion of the carbon nanotubes, and form a carbon nanotube-nanowireheterostructure. One electrode that connects to a multitude of thenanowires is the bottom electrode, for example, the conductive layer.The top electrode is deposited and connects to a multitude of the carbonnanotubes. The carbon nanotube-nanowire heterostructures are thenelectrically connected and can function as a current carrying device. Anoptional filler may be added to the device in the open area of the pore.This area may be above the nanowire which is not filled by the carbonnanotubes. The filler may be used to passivate, protect, or stabilizethe carbon nanotubes, nanowires, pores, or combinations of these. Thefiller may also be useful in doping or electrically modifying all orpart of the carbon nanotubes.

FIG. 21 schematically illustrates, in a perspective view, a gatematerial 2110 added where the gate is partially etched into thestructure 2120. A thin layer 2130 insulates the conductive gate fromelectrical contact with either the first electrode 2140 or secondelectrode 2150. An optional substrate is not shown.

A gate electrode is fabricated either on one or both sides of the porousstructure. A voltage on the gate electrode is used to modulate theelectrical properties of the carbon nanotubes, nanowires, or both. Thegate electrode is placed near enough to the nanostructure components inorder to be effective. The gate electrode can also be etched into thestructure that defines a number of pores so as to potentially be moreeffective. The figure shows the gate as partially etched into thestructure. The thin layer between the gate material and structureelectrically isolates the conductive gate material from the firstelectrode, second electrode, carbon nanotubes, and nanowires. Thestructure can be supported by an optional substrate (not shown).

FIG. 22 shows a flow diagram of a direct synthesis method for carbonnanotube placement, according to specific embodiments of the presentinvention. According to the flow diagram: (1) A first material isselected for pore formation. (2) Pores are formed on the first material.(3) Is a second material desired for pore formation? (4) If so, transferpore pattern to a second material. (5) If not, characterize the pores inthe structure. (6) Will a catalyst be used for CVD carbon nanotubesynthesis? (7) If yes, then choose a catalyst including Fe, Co, Ni, Mo,or a combination of these. (8) If not, deposit nanowires on one end ofthe pores, extending partially through the pores. (9) Open the bottom ofthe pores if needed. (10) Add a first electrode to one side of thestructure. This electrode will connect to multiple ones of the carbonnanotubes. (11) Add a second electrode to the other side of thestructure. This electrode will also connect to multiple ones of thecarbon nanotubes. (12) Add one or more gate electrodes to the structure?(13) If so, connect to gate or pattern and deposit gate, etch intostructure if desired. (14) If not, test and characterize the device,properly mounting the package for the end product.

FIG. 23 is a schematic flow diagram of a direct synthesis method forcarbon nanotube placement, according to specific embodiments of thepresent invention where a substrate is in addition to the porousstructure with a number of pores. According to the flow diagram: (1) Afirst material is selected for pore formation. (2) Is a second materialdesired for pore formation? If not, proceed to step 7. (3) If so, choosea second material for pore pattern formation. (4) Place second materialon a substrate and first material on top of second material. (5) Formpores in first material and transfer pore pattern to second materialwhich extend to the substrate. (6) Remove first material partially orfully if desired. Then go to step 9. (7) Place first material on asubstrate with optional conductive layer added. (8) Form pores in firstmaterial which extends to the substrate. (9) Will a catalyst be used forCVD carbon nanotube synthesis? (10) If yes, add catalyst to bottom ofpore or use predeposited catalyst. (11) If not, synthesize carbonnanotubes within pores. (12) Deposit nanowires on one end of the poresand extending partially through the pores. (13) Connect to substrate orany conductive layer on substrate to define one electrode. (14) Addanother electrode to the top side of the structure. (15) Add one or moregate electrodes to the structure? (16) If yes, connect to gate orpattern and deposit gate, and etch into structure if desired. Proceed to17. (17) If not, test and characterize device, and properly mount andpackage for end product.

FIG. 24 is a schematic flow diagram of a transfer method for carbonnanotube placement, according to specific embodiments of the presentinvention. According to the flow diagram: (1) A first material isselected for pore formation. (2) Pores are formed on the first material.(3) Is a second material desired for pore formation? If not, proceed tostep 5. (4) If so, transfer pore pattern to a second material. Then,remove part or all of first material if needed. Proceed to step 5. (5)Characterize pores in structure. (6) Open both ends of pores if needed.(7) Transfer carbon nanotubes to the pores by flowing a solution,suspension, polymer or other composite in or through the pores. (8)Verify that carbon nanotubes are deposited within the pores. (9) Depositnanowires on one end of the pores and extending partially through thepores. (10) Add a first electrode to one side of the structureconnecting to multiple ones of the carbon nanotubes. (11) Add a secondelectrode to the other side of the structure connecting to multiple onesof the nanowires. (12) Add one or more gate electrodes to the structure?(13) If yes, connect to gate or pattern and deposit gate, etch intostructure if desired. Proceed to 14. (14) If not, test and characterizedevice, and properly mount and package for end product.

Other embodiments of the present invention are apparatuses or articlesproduced according to any method embodiment of the present invention orproduced using any apparatus or article embodiment of the presentinvention.

In an embodiment, the invention includes a method of making anelectrical device, including (1) providing a structure that defines anumber of pores; (2) depositing carbon nanotubes within at least some ofthe number of pores, where the diameter of the carbon nanotubes is lessthan the diameter of the pores; (3) depositing nanowires on one side ofat least some of the number of pores, where the nanowires extendpartially through the pores and cover at least some portion of at leastsome of the carbon nanotubes; (4) providing a first electrode on a firstside of the structure connecting to multiple ones of the carbonnanotubes; and (5) providing a second electrode on a second (e.g.,opposing) side of the structure connecting to multiple ones of thenanowires.

The structure may include aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, niobium oxide,tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, or combinations of these. The structuremay include silicon oxide, silicon nitride, yttrium oxide, lanthanumoxide, hafnium oxide, or combinations of these. The structure mayinclude a metal, a semiconductor, an insulator, or combinations ofthese.

The number of pores may include pores which are continuous andsubstantially parallel to each other. The number of pores may includepores with diameters within the range of about 1 nanometer to about 200nanometers. The number of pores may include pores with lengths in therange from about 10 nanometers to about 10 microns. The number of poresmay include pores with lengths of greater than about 10 microns.

The structure may have pore densities of from about 10⁶ per squarecentimeter to about 10¹⁴ per square centimeter.

Anodization of a metal may be used to form the structure that includesthe number of pores. This metal may include aluminum, titanium, niobium,tantalum, zirconium, or combinations of these.

The structure with pores may be formed by dry etching. A mask may beused that includes a photoresist, a metal, a metal oxide, silicon oxide,silicon nitride, or combinations of these.

At least a given percentage of pores may be known to contain carbonnanotubes. Each pore may contain zero, one, or multiple carbonnanotubes. The nanowires may be metallic or semiconducting.

The nanowires may include silicon, germanium, gallium nitride, galliumarsenide, cadmium selenide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, a III/Vsemiconductor, a II/VI semiconductor, a metal oxide, a metal, orcombinations of these. The nanowires may have diameters that areapproximately equal to the diameter of the pores. The nanowires may havediameters that are less than the diameter of the pores.

There may be at least one gate electrode added. The at least one gatemay be used to modulate the electrical properties of the carbonnanotubes, nanowires, or both.

The carbon nanotubes may be synthesized within the at least some of thenumber of pores. Chemical vapor deposition is one technique tosynthesize the carbon nanotubes. An effective catalyst may be used tosynthesize the carbon nanotubes. This catalyst may include Fe, Co, Ni,Mo, or combinations of these. The catalyst may be an alloy of Fe, Co,Ni, or Mo.

The carbon nanotubes may be transferred to the at least some of thenumber of pores. The carbon nanotubes, before being transferred to thepores, may have been synthesized by chemical vapor deposition,arc-discharge, or laser ablation techniques. The carbon nanotubes mayhave been in solutions or suspensions for use in transfer to thestructure. The solution or suspension flowed into or through the poresin the structure and carbon nanotubes may be deposited within the pores.

Unwanted carbon nanotubes, or portions of these, are destroyed,modified, or removed by chemical, mechanical, or electrical techniques.

A material may be added to fill in at least some portion of the openarea within the pores. The filler material may be used to passivate orprotect at least some portion of the carbon nanotubes or nanowires.

In an embodiment, the invention is an electrical device including (1) astructure that defines a number of pores; (2) carbon nanotubes within atleast some of the number of pores, where the diameter of the carbonnanotubes is less than the diameter of the pores; (3) nanowires on oneside of at least some of the number of pores, where the nanowires extendpartially through the pores and cover at least some portion of at leastsome of the carbon nanotubes; (4) a first electrode on a first side ofthe structure connecting to multiple ones of the carbon nanotubes; and(5) a second electrode on a second (e.g., opposing) side of thestructure connecting to multiple ones of the nanowires.

A diode, rectifier, silicon controlled rectifier, or thyristor may beformed, at least in part, according to a technique described in thispatent.

This description of the invention has been presented for the purposes ofillustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise form described, and manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the teachingabove. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical applications.This description will enable others skilled in the art to best utilizeand practice the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to a particular use. The scope of theinvention is defined by the following claims.

1. A method of making a device comprising: anodizing an aluminumsubstrate to produce an alumina template with a plurality of pores, eachhaving a pore diameter; forming a conductive layer in the pores; formingon the conductive layer in the pores an insulating layer; and exposingthe alumina template having pores to a hydrocarbon gas at a temperatureto grow carbon nanotubes in the pores, each carbon nanotube having anouter diameter less than the pore diameter of the pore in which thecarbon nanotube is produced, wherein when growing the carbon nanotubes,the carbon nanotubes are electrically insulated from the conductivelayer by the insulating layer.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein theconductive layer is at least one of polysilicon or metal.
 3. The methodof claim 1 wherein the insulating layer is an oxide.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the carbon nanotubes are single-walled carbon nanotubes.5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of exposing the aluminatemplate having pores to a hydrocarbon gas at a temperature to growcarbon nanotubes in the pores, each carbon nanotube having an outerdiameter less than the pore diameter of the pore in which the carbonnanotube is produced is replaced by transferring single-walled carbonnanotubes to the pores.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality ofcarbon nanotubes are coupled in parallel.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein conductive layers in the pores of the plurality of carbonnanotubes are coupled together.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein thestep of anodizing an aluminum substrate to produce an alumina templatewith a plurality of pores, each having a pore diameter is replaced byanodizing an aluminum layer to produce an alumina template with aplurality of pores, each having a pore diameter.
 9. The method of claim8 wherein the aluminum layer is provided on a substrate material.
 10. Amethod of making a device comprising: providing a porous layercomprising a plurality of pores having a pore diameter; forming aconductive layer in the pores along a wall of the pores; forming on theconductive layer in the pores a first insulating layer; and exposing theporous layer to a hydrocarbon gas at a temperature to grow carbonnanotubes in the pores, each carbon nanotube having an outer diameterless than the pore diameter of a pore in which the carbon nanotube isproduced, wherein the nanotubes extend along the wall of the poresbeside the conductive and first insulating layers.
 11. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the step of exposing the porous layer to a hydrocarbongas at a temperature to grow carbon nanotubes in the pores, each carbonnanotube having an outer diameter less than the pore diameter of a porein which the carbon nanotube is produced is replaced by transferringsingle-walled carbon nanotubes to the pores.
 12. The method of claim 10wherein when the porous layer is a conductive material the methodfurther comprises: forming a second insulating layer in the pores,wherein the conductive layer is formed on the second insulating layer.13. The method of claim 12 wherein the porous layer is at least one ofaluminum, silicon, silicon germanium, gallium nitride, germanium, orgallium arsenide.
 14. The method of claim 10 wherein the porous layer isan insulating material comprising at least one of alumina, siliconoxide, plastic, polymer, glass, or quartz.
 15. The method of claim 10wherein a plurality of carbon nanotubes are coupled in parallel.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein conductive layers in the pores of theplurality of carbon nanotubes are coupled together.
 17. The method ofclaim 15 wherein the porous layer is alumina formed on a siliconsubstrate.
 18. The method of claim 10 wherein the device is a transistorand a conductive layer in a pore is a gate electrode of the transistor.19. The method of claim 1 wherein the conductive layer is formed along awall of a pore, and a nanotube extends along the wall besides theconductive layer.
 20. The method of claim 1 wherein the insulating layerin a pore has an opening, less than the pore diameter, through which acarbon nanotube extends.
 21. The method of claim 1 wherein theconductive layer in a pore has a first opening, less than the porediameter, within which the insulating layer is formed.
 22. The method ofclaim 21 wherein the insulating layer in the pore has a second opening,less than a diameter of the first opening, through which a carbonnanotube extends.
 23. The method of claim 10 wherein the conductivelayer in a pore has a first opening, less than the pore diameter, withinwhich the insulating layer is formed.
 24. The method of claim 10 whereinthe insulating layer in the pore has a second opening, less than adiameter of the first opening, through which a carbon nanotube extends.25. The method of claim 10 wherein when growing the carbon nanotubes,the carbon nanotubes are electrically insulated from the conductivelayer by the insulating layer.
 26. A method of making a devicecomprising: providing a layer comprising a plurality of pore openings;forming a conductive layer having first openings in the pore openings;forming a first insulating layer on the conductive layer in the firstopenings, wherein the first insulating layer has second openings in thepore openings; and forming carbon nanotubes extending through the secondopenings.
 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the forming carbonnanotubes in the second openings comprises: exposing the layer to ahydrocarbon gas at a temperature to grow carbon nanotubes in the secondopenings.
 28. The method of claim 26 wherein the forming carbonnanotubes in the second openings comprises: transferring single-walledcarbon nanotubes to the second openings.
 29. The method of claim 26wherein the second openings extend a length of the pore openings. 30.The method of claim 26 comprising: forming a second insulating layer inthe pore openings, wherein the second insulating layer has a thirdopening within which the conductive layer is formed.
 31. The method ofclaim 30 wherein the third opening is larger than the first opening,which is larger than the second opening.